Photo&Food: Giorgio Cravero (part III)

2017-06-14 We continue our congenial (and informative!) chat with the renowned Turin-born photographer Giorgio Cravero, owner of Studio Blu 2.0.
Giorgio, which one of your photo shoots represents you best?
“The job I like most is the one I’m doing tomorrow. I always look to the future… I’m particularly fond of “Cocktail Serial” (2015), the homage to famous TV serials (“True Detective”, “Mad Men”, “Hannibal”…) which I designed with art director Alessandro Demicheli. The technique was unbelievably complicated, because the background for the shot is a frame from the TV series, while the foreground involved tracking down the original props (or near-identical ones) and using exactly the same lighting as the series itself. “Beautyfood” (2016), an exploration of the relationship between cosmetics and food, also represents me very closely: after all, seduction often goes hand-in-hand with an invitation to dinner… recently I’ve been working on a new project for a client, combining cosmetics with patisserie. The “Colors” (2015) project was inspired by a conversation I had with a farmer at the market. He was complaining that people want their fruit and vegetables to look perfect, regardless of how they taste... That led me to create my shots of fruit and veg losing their colour. The media absolutely loved them, particularly the photo of a bunch of bananas. It came as a real surprise, and it was a real pleasure.”
What’s the most difficult aspect of shooting something like food?
“Food has a short lifespan on set. Then there are differences between how people imagine food and what it really looks like, which makes this type of photography really challenging… Food needs to be specially prepared before it can be shot… I use food styling to a lesser degree, thanks to my experience and technique. But when the shot needs to be more realistic, I go to the restaurant kitchen and shoot the dish as it’s served to customers, with no mock-ups and only the tiniest modifications (for example, the “stripes” on grilled meat are specially done for the shot with a hot iron, they’re not real)».
What do you like experimenting with when photographing food?
“I like doing everything myself, from the idea for a shot and thinking about how the dish will appear, to scouring flea markets and junk shops for objects to use on set, which is a really fun part. I get bored very easily: the more original things are, the more I get excited about them, so I’m always looking out for something new and something fun.”
What qualities do you think you have as a food photographer?
“Finding exactly the right type of light, something I’m completely aware of, every time I approach a shot. And a sense of composition, that is, arranging the items in the photo so they guide the audience’s gaze. I think I have a talent for this, as I do it instinctively and I don’t know how to explain it.”
(continua)

Mariagrazia Villa

Photography: Giorgio Cravero