That Photo Makes Me Hungry by Andrew Scrivani

Author:Andrew Scrivani [Scrivani, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Countryman Press
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

My accidental piece of modern art that happened to be created at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I was on assignment for the Wall Street Journal.

When she loaned me the tumblers for the Mint Julep shoot, I did not tell Florence Fabricant that it was for a Wall Street Journal story.

Obviously, you cannot always count on the cosmos to provide a perfect moment for you, so there are times when nothing but proper research, planning, and execution will allow you to tell a single image narrative properly.

Back in 2007, I was asked to photograph the signature cocktail of the Kentucky Derby, the mint julep, also for the Wall Street Journal. If you Google “Kentucky Derby drink,” you will get several thousand images of mint juleps, but only certain images tell the whole story. When you have something so identifiable with an iconic annual event like the Kentucky Derby, you have three incentives to get it right. First, you do not want to be a fraud. If you are a knowledgeable food photographer, you must know that a proper Kentucky mint julep must be served in a sterling silver or pewter tumbler with beading around the top and bottom. You must also know that a mint leaf is the only garnish that’s acceptable. Secondly, if you get this image right, you will be able to use it in resale stock until the end of time. Newspapers and magazines write about the Kentucky Derby and its traditions every year without fail, and nailing a great shot of the mint julep will be something you can sell over and over again. Lastly, if you have only one chance to tell the whole story of a drink that is as steeped in history as the mint julep, every detail needs to be perfect.

While doing my research for the shoot, I consulted with the Grand Dame of the New York Times Food section, Florence Fabricant. If anyone I knew had those tumblers, I mean the “right” ones, it was FloFab. Sure enough, she had the tumblers, and she loaned them to me under penalty of death if anything ever happened to them. They were a family heirloom, and the Derby was only a few weeks away.

The lesson here is that many things in food photography are rooted in traditions and history, and being aware and sensitive to those things and preparing yourself before you make the shot allows you to tell those stories well. In a single image narrative, you literally get one shot, and you have to make it count.

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