While doing some background research to for my own food photography portfolio, I put together this collection of, only in my opinion, the 10 best contemporary food photographers. Leave a comment below if you think I overlooked anyone.
Nicole Stich and Oliver Seidel
http://www.deliciousdays.com
The food photography of Nicole Stich and Oliver Seidel on the Delicious Days website is arranged not by anything as mundane by country or by food types, but by colour. The website is a glowing testament to photographers that really care about food. All their photographs share an intimacy and a fine-art understanding of conveying emotion though the simple, close compositions, subtle lighting and strong colours.
Marcus Nilsson
http://www.marcusnilsson.com
Marcus Milsson takes a strikingly original angle on food photography – his pictures make no apologies for not portraying the food in an attractive or even edible manor. Marcus’s work all about impact. Edgy and gritty is all here – gone are the perfectly presented plated compositions, in come pictures of 1/2 eaten food and raw meat. A truly original voice.
David Munns
http://www.foodphotography.co.uk
David Munns food photography work shares a common theme of being shot in strong but diffuse light, giving a very light and carefree summer feel to his work. David often favours classic angled for plated food – the part cropped plate with a low viewing angle. Lovely images.
Mittongtare Studio
http://www.mittongtarestudio.com/
Food, Still life and lifestyle photographer Pornchai Mittongtare brings together vibrant colors and shapes in obviously very carefully planned shots. Rarely will you find Pornchni settling for a ‘straight’ plated food shot. Pornchai works from a natural light studio in California, giving almost year round constant sunlight to his shots. Indeed, you can see the light in his work.
Miki Duisterhof
http://www.mikiduisterhof.com
Miki Duisterhof covers a range of commercial photography, but his food photography show in galleries Fresh + Local and Food for Thought is outstanding. His subtle lighting and often still-life composition approach to food offers style to complex dishes. Miki even manages to makes a place of chips look stylish!
David Lofus
http://www.davidloftus.com/
David Lofus brings a unique twist to food photography – he specialises in catching the ‘lifestyle’ as well as the food itself. As an example thing the Jamie Oliver series of books – love them of hate them, they are rich in selling the dream of cool food through the photography, food effortlessly thrown together while enjoying life with lots of people around.
Beatrice Peltre
http://www.beatricepeltre.com
The food photography of Beatrice Peltre has a refreshing innocence and natural simplicity about it, both in terms of her choice of simple home cooked foods, but also in her documentary approach to food styling. Beatrice uses the bold colours and shapes of raw ingredients to her advantage, both in her dishes, and in her props. Coupled with a selection of natural backdrops, her work sings of the beauty of food.
Clare Borboza
http://www.clarebarboza.com/
Clare Borboza prefers not to be labeled as just a food photographer since her work often about more than just the food. She captures also the story behind the food; the people that grow it, the chefs that prepare it, the communities that celebrate it, the people that gather around the table to share it. In spite of this wider perspective, Clare seems to love producing her blend of artistic food still-life images.
Carl Warner
http://www.carlwarner.com/
Carl Warner is a photographer in the enviable position that most people will have seen a piece of his work, in one guise or another, even if they are unlikely to know his name. Carl make cartoon-like scenes, or foodscapes, creating forests of broccoli and seas of smoked salmon. His imaginative work has been widely used in food advertising both in the press and on television.
Keiko Oikawa
http://www.keikooikawa.com
The self-taught photographer Keiko Oikawa learned to love food photography through producing her own food blog. Now, with a formidable client list, Keiko shows a very strong portfolio of documentary style food shots on her website. Her style is delicate and sensual, while remaining true to the foods she photographs.
Tim Hill
http://www.timhill.co.uk/
Tim Hill is a London based commercial stock photographer, with a strong portfolio of food scenes. What stands Tim out is the fact he does not shy away from building complex scenes around food. Many food photographers tend towards simple compositions with little to distract from the food. Tim using a wealth of stylish backdrops with his food, showing the food in context.
[…] http://www.davidwhitestudio.co.uk/blog/top-10-food-photographers/ […]
[…] It is very difficult to take a picture from above and get the viewer involved in the scene, also the lighting has to be very good to stop it looking flat and dull. To get good food photography it helps to have good looking food with plenty of colour and texture but this may not be the case in a commercial shoot. One to the best sites I found wasDavid White Studioon which he lists his top ten favourate food sites (http://www.davidwhitestudio.co.uk/blog/top-10-food-photographers/) […]
There are some great food photographers on that list, and some great ones not on it ;)
This is a very useful list David. Thanks for putting it up. I like the diversity of the photographers you have chosen. I’m a little surprised that nobody has made any comments as to who should or should not be on the list. As yet, I do not feel qualified to make any suggestions.
I’m just starting my own research into food photographers, while taking a break from researching the history of food photography.
Hi David
THanks for your comment. When I compiled this list, it was with somewhat limited reasearch time – if you have any suggestions to other world class food photographers, let me know and I will consider them for the list.
David
Hi Paul
Thanks for your comment. Your research in to the history of food photography sounds fascinating – do you have anything online outlining this work?
Do let me know if you come accross other world class food photographers in your research – I am keen to keep this list evolving.
David
Got some good inspiration from a detailed look through those links. I have my cumbriafoodie food blog and now my “hobby” food photo website to populate with photos….now i need to go cook and snap away.
Thanks
Oh and as far as my fave one goes…. it has to be Anson Smart and the Quay and Pier cookbooks…..Awesome.
interesting choice but a fair bit are missing though ! But I guess it takes time to compile a comprehensive listing !
I can say that all of them are great photographers in the making. I once read books from Tim Hill and Clare Borboza. They really inspire me to do well in photography.
Thanks for posting these. I like the work of these photographers also:
Anna Williams, Chris Court, Ditte Isager, Mowie Kay, Con Poulos, Katie Quinn Davies, Michael Graydon.
Perdon David, pero mi Ingles escrito no es muy bueno, recomiendo este site http://greatfoodphotos.com/
38 fotografos, algunos son exelentes, el nivel es altisimo, imagenes sofisticadas, sabor pictorico, emocional…
Personalmente elijo:
– Andrea Gentl
– anna williams
– Tomo Kohsaka
– Greg DuPree
– Marie Pierre Morel
desde mi humilde punto de vista …creo que “roban” el puesto a mas de uno de tu lista…
Espero que a alguien pueda resultar util.
Adios!
R.
Tim Hill is really a very good food photographer.
Great to see your list and hope it inspires young photographers!
My favorite photographer Francesco Tonelli the best.
I would nominate Good Enough To Eat, Indian food photographer, as I feel the East is not represented here. http://www.goodenoughtoeat.in
I’d like to nominate http://www.foodphotography.in for inclusion on your list
[…] from some great food photographers; the following are some food photography tips to help you produce beautiful work and photograph […]
I do not have any experience in food photography and find this list most helpful and don’t think I’ll need any more great photographers to get inspiration. Too many can cloud your mind. Thanks.
Steve lee perhaps, not to be biased but the mans good
steveleestudios
Thanks David for putting together the list. It is always inspiring to see the great work in food photography. I will like to comment that the photos and food look amazing, a big part must go to the food styling. Styling set the stage for the food, with colours and textures to complement the whole setup. Do these photographers do the food styling as well or there are food stylist involved?
Great selection – and something for us to aspire to.
Great list thanks! Have you seen http://www.tanyazouev.com ?
The “link” for deliciousdays is sending me to http://photos.deliciousdays.com/