A long-time photographer, I have to admit that my interest in food photography has slowed down a bit. I’ve never been one to really take myself seriously and to shoot food is a lot more than just taking photos of food. When I started out, I was more interested in food than anything else and I think the reason was twofold: I wanted to see what I’m made of and to learn how food and my mind work.
I know how bad it is to take yourself too seriously and that’s something I think a lot of photographers get stuck on. The problem comes from two different perspectives. First, what you shoot doesn’t have to be food. I mean, who does? I shoot about everything and I am always looking for new subjects. Second, photography is a whole mindset and you have to start taking yourself more seriously. Take more time-outs and read more.
After shooting a few food shots, I was actually getting more confident in my own skills. But it has been a long time since I have shot food, and I have to admit that I was a little bit shocked when I tried a bunch of different shots. I was surprised because I thought I was good at it. But it really came down to confidence. I did lose a little bit of that confidence. But that confidence is what makes me continue to shoot food.
You have to have confidence in your own abilities. And the best way to show it is to shoot food. I used to be terrified whenever I saw an attractive food photo. I couldn’t believe I was actually getting good at it.
Dark food photography is a weird one. It can actually be a pretty easy way to get better at it, but you have to be really confident and take care of it. The biggest thing is to take a few shots of the food and see what you look like. If you look too confident in your face, you will just look like a food gazelle.
I remember when I first started to eat dark food, I was scared to death. I was completely unconfident in my face, eyes, and teeth. I was terrified of eating anything with a mouth, a nose, or any visible teeth. As I got better, I started taking more food photos. I didn’t like them much at first, but then I started taking a lot more pictures, and I really started to like them.
As a dietitian, I know how scary it is to see your face turn into an ugly corpse by just a little bit of dark food. This is why my dietician has me keep a small stash of dark food in my purse so I can pop it into my mouth and not feel like I’m eating through a sandwich hole. Ive had my own dark food panic attack once or twice, but I wouldnt do that to anyone.
Of course, dark food photography isn’t just for foodies. It’s also for anyone who wants to see their face turn into a dark, scary corpse. In Dark Food Photography, we see an older woman (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) who is a bit of a weirdo. She starts eating dark food because she’s trying to avoid aging with a bit of plastic surgery.
For foodies, its a way to avoid the guilt that comes with eating something that was once delicious but now seems unhealthy. For us, dark food photography is a way to look in the mirror and see ourselves as the dark, scary corpse that we are.
Dark food photography is really the same as a traditional black and white photograph. We view it as a dark, creepy, dark-ish picture to see our own humanity in the face. We may not be able to see ourselves as human beings, but we are definitely human beings when we look at a dark, creepy, dark-ish picture.