The Food Photographer of The Year Award 2012
After eight months of planning and preparing for the very first Food Photographer of the Year Award 2012, the winners were announced at the Mall Galleries in London on 24th April. A mercifully celebrity-free event managed to draw hundreds of people from all over the world to pay tribute to an important art form that is so often underrated. Many thousands more followed on social media, spreading the message of the event to all corners of the globe. Taittinger champage aflowing and business cards exchanged, the tension mounted in the room as we awaited the roll call of winners. It had been a long wait.
Across nine different categories and themes more than 3000 images had been submitted from over 60 countries. Both professional and amateur photographers took part, some as young as eight years of age. It was astonishing to see the breadth and range of photographs hung on the walls of the gallery, each photographer interpreting “Food Fod Sale”, “Food in the Street”, “Food and its Place” and “An Apple a Day” in completely different ways. The event celebrated the imagery of food, farming, cooking, styling and nature, showcasing the extraordinary skills and talents of the many ordinary people and unsung artisans who photograph food either as a hobby or as a profession, for magazines, books, PR and advertising.
The event was sponsored by Pink Lady Apple UK, and Andy Macdonald, the Managing Director of Coregeo Ltd, the Master Licensor of the apple brand in the UK, made a speech about the importance of good food photography in launching a brand and maintaining consumer interest in a product. All of the judging was done with the names of the photographers unseen until the award ceremony reveal, so this democratic platform could hopefully, in the future, launch the career of a completely unknown food photographer.
The fourteen judges, who had seen all the shortlisted entries and attended a dinner event a month earlier, included James Averdieck {founder of Gu Chocolate Puds}, Chris Beetles {founder of Chris Beetles Fine Photographs}, Peter Farquhar {Chairman of Dorset Cereals}, Rachel Green {award winning chef, writer and local food champion}, Michael Powell {professional photographer and former Nikon Arts Photographer of the Year}, Henry Dimbleby {co-founder of the Leon Restaurant chain} and Eric Treuille {owner of Books for Cooks}. I was fortunate enough to be included in the judging panel and found, in particular, the entries at first nomination level to be of outstanding quality.
The overall winner, for his entry in the “Food in the Fields” category entitled “Black Pigs”, was French food and lifestyle photographer Jean Cazals. The photograph was taken for the Club Gascon restaurant that sources its produce from Gascony, and it shows the pigs foraging on tall grass, rolling hills and tall trees behind them. He won a cheque for £5000.
Two charities were supported from some of the proceeds of the night: Great Ormond Street Hospital and Action Against Hunger.
Many congratulations to all that took part. The photographs of the finalists and winners are shown here: www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com/gallery
The winners are:
Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2012
Jean Cazals (UK) for Black Pigs
This picture was taken in the South West of France. It was part of a book for the Club Gascon restaurant in London, a Michelin-star restaurant specializing in fois gras and produce from the Gascony in France. The book that I shot which includes recipes and location won best French cookbook! The black pigs produce the best ham in France. Fed with acorns and other purely organic food, they are the equivalent of the Black Iberian pig or ‘Pata Negra’ in Spain which make the Iberico ham. They are very intelligent, small and gentle animals.
Category Winners:
Cream of the Crop: Jed Alder (UK) for Home-grown Garlic
This shot was taken shortly after the harvest of our first home-grown garlic.
Having been pulled from the ground, the garlic dried in the sun on a garden bench.
A macro lens was used to pick up the detail in the skin and the grain of the wood.
Food for Sale: Araceli Paz (Chile) for Chicken in Marrakesh Market
This photo was taken on my first trip to Marrakech, in October 2011, such a cool and different experience, amazing situations everywhere. I had only 3 days to get to know the city, a short and intense trip. The heat, the rudimentary homelike style of the markets, the untiring sellers, everything had earthly colors, so simple but at the same time beautiful and inspiring. I just found this lonely chicken hanging in the middle of the Médina Souk with the light coming from the roof, and I fell in love, including the little “midge”
Food in the Field: Jean Cazals (UK) for Black Pigs
This picture was taken in the South West of France. It was part of a book for the Club Gascon restaurant in London, a Michelin-star restaurant specializing in fois gras and produce from the Gascony in France. The book that I shot which includes recipes and location won best French cookbook! The black pigs produce the best ham in France. Fed with acorns and other purely organic food, they are the equivalent of the Black Iberian pig or ‘Pata Negra’ in Spain which make the Iberico ham. They are very intelligent, small and gentle animals.
Philip Harben Award for Food in Action: John Arandhara Blackwell for Bedouin Fishermen
The fishermen, after an early morning haul, prepare their breakfast of red mullet over hot coals on the desert sands just a stone’s throw from the sea near the border of Sudan in the searing Egyptian heat.
Food in the Street: Rebecca Chesney (USA) for Istanbul Juicer
A street vendor in Istanbul attempts to juice a stubborn orange.
His friend looks unconvinced.
Food and its Place: Tim Clinch (UK) for Jerez Fishmarket
Taken in the beautiful, Eiffel-designed fishmarket in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
Food Portraiture: Hilary Moore (UK) for Blueberry Icecream
After numerous attempts at pulling ice cream scoops with my head buried deep in the freezer (and biceps not unlike Popeye’s!) I finally captured the shot I was after, showcasing the ice creams intense vibrant colour and natural array of textures. My ultimate goal as a food photographer is to make the food look good enough to eat. Hopefully I have achieved this here.
An Apple a Day: Alessandro Zanon (Italy) for Apples in the Clouds
The fruits are ready. They will be picked by the locals of the Val di Non in Trentino, in the North of Italy. After long hard work, at last the harvest. This is once again the ancient generous miracle of Nature.
Young 15-17:Kyle Meadows (UK) for Strawberry in Milk
This photograph was taken as part of a personal project. I wanted to capture
the motion of the liquid as the strawberry hit the spoon. I like the contrast
in colours and the shape created by the splash.
Young 11-14:Sylvia Ware (USA) for Lemon and Vanilla Cupcake
Homemade lemon and vanilla cupcake.
Young: 10 and under:
Joint winner Jonty Abbott (UK) for My Donkey Flipper eating a carrot
This is a picture of my donkey Flipper. He is 22 years old. I am 8 years old. He is my biggest donkey, he is nice and he loves carrots! He likes being tickled behind his ears.
Joint winner Joel Roane (UK) for Plummeted
I noticed a lot of plums which had fallen from a tree into the school playground in September. I decided I’d go back and take some photographs of them after school. I like the bright colours of the plums mixed with the autumn leaves in this photograph.
