Feast for the Eyes
Feast for the Eyes
Book
Feast for the Eyes explores the rich history of food as a subject in photography. Eating is one of the most mundane and profane acts, yet it is also central to our rituals, religions, and celebrations. Featuring photographs from across fine art, fashion, photojournalism, social networking, and advertising, this publication is an international survey that delights in the most ordinary of subjects. It brings together a number of well-known artists, including Irving Penn, Stephen Shore, Cindy Sherman, Nobuyoshi Araki, Paul Strand, and Martin Parr, among others.
‘Photographs of food are rarely just about food. They hold our lives and time up to the light. Food can signify a lifestyle or a nation, hope or despair, hunger or excess. Ultimately, food is not only about literal taste, but also Taste with a capital T — both the lifestyles we aspire to and the building blocks of culture itself.’
— Susan Bright
Upon starting the design for this book, we felt like we were looking at a treasure trove of an incredibly diverse collection of images. The puzzling moment was when we saw how different the aesthetics of the different time periods represented in the book. We wondered how best to represent these images in one graphic proposal. We researched vintage cookbook covers and then rebelled against these references, shedding the temptation to make it look kitsch. We aimed to strike a balance between historical references and a contemporary approach. Typography was an essential tool to express both qualities. We chose modern revivals of victorian typefaces and used them starkly without being overly illustrative.
Publisher: Aperture
Contributors: Susan Bright, Denise Wolff
2017
