Martin Parr<\/a>: I started photographing dishes several decades ago. I\u2019ve always loved it. At the time, no one else was doing it, because mobile phones didn\u2019t exist. It all came about because I wanted to find a different, less bleak approach to documentary photography. And the food seemed perfect for that.<\/p>\nYou use flash to give your dishes a \u201cfake\u201d appearance\u2026<\/p>\n
With the food porn trend and glamorous cooking magazines, people are now posting pictures of food are at the opposite end of what we are actually eating every day. There\u2019s a lot of dishonesty in how food is represented in our society. Just look at the seductive images on supermarket packaging. When you open the box, the difference between the real product and what\u2019s marketed is obvious. As for using the flash, it allows me to create fiction and entertainment from reality, to give cuisine a surreal feel, thus making it more beautiful and interesting. Like an alcoholic with his glass of wine, I\u2019m addicted to flash and its strong, vivid colours.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo-euro junk food often looks better than a 26-course, 400-euro tasting menu at one of the world\u2019s top restaurants.\u201d \u2013 Martin Parr<\/p>\n
How did you select the 200 photos featured in your book, which features hamburgers, kitsch cakes shaped like little men or animals, outrageous cupcakes, ice cream, fruits, dripping hot dogs, fries, donuts, neon sushi, greasy sausages, etc.?<\/p>\n
Two-euro junk food often looks better than a 26-course, 400-euro tasting menu at one of the world\u2019s top restaurants. I\u2019m actually quite a snob when it comes to what I eat, and I did taste some of the dishes shown in the book. As far as the photos are concerned, I chose whatever looked best on camera.<\/p>\n
You can often tell where the photos were taken (France, England, the United States, Japan). Is there a social angle behind that?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t mind if people can tell where the recipes come from. I actually play with the stereotypes and clich\u00e9s surrounding food. For example, I started out photographing British food, which has a reputation for being terrible\u2026 Even though I can assure you I\u2019ve eaten things in France just as disgusting as some dishes back home. Besides, UK food today is more than decent. In Mulhouse, near Alsace, I had a great time capturing choucroute and sausages, because that\u2019s exactly what people expect from that region. In Vienna, I shot loads of pastries and even a cake factory, because the locals are obsessed with them. Personally, I\u2019ll never get tired of a room full of desserts.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the moment I became independent, I developed a real obsession with seaside resorts and other attractions I didn\u2019t have the chance to access.\u201d \u2013 Martin Parr<\/p>\n
The term \u201cfood porn\u201d implies a kind of arousal triggered by food. Have you ever felt that in front of a dish?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s certainly a thrill in spending an evening at a top restaurant, but no, I\u2019ve never felt the urge to plunge it into a choucroute or a creamy cake, nor have I ever had an erection while photographing a plate of snails, some sausage, bananas, or frog legs\u2026 If that\u2019s what you\u2019re asking.<\/p>\n
Some of the close-ups with vivid colours can provoke a feeling of disgust in the viewer\u2026<\/p>\n
As a child, I grew up in a family of birdwatchers. So when we went on holiday, it wasn\u2019t to the seaside. We would go watch the birds. From the moment I became independent, I developed a real obsession with seaside resorts and other attractions I didn\u2019t have the chance to access. So when I photographed them, I amplified that fascination to celebrate my newfound freedom, using flash and macro lenses. I made the language of advertising and commercial imagery mine, only to subvert it and criticise the contradictions of the modern world. I did the same thing with food, which explains those loud, flashy colours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happier in a supermarket taking pictures of the shelves, trying to reinvent reality, the prosaic, than in a city falling apart.\u201d \u2013 Martin Parr<\/p>\n
Do you cook?<\/p>\n
Yes, I love the idea of planning everything so it\u2019s ready at the right time when making a recipe. Unlike my partner, I never use a cookbook, I improvise. I love cooking fish because it\u2019s tricky. You mustn\u2019t overcook it, or it turns to jelly. It\u2019s all about timing. I also like to roast chicken or make roast beef on Sundays. Again, it\u2019s a matter of timing.<\/p>\n
You certainly didn\u2019t kill your daughter Ellen Parr\u2019s appetite, since she has become a chef and founded the highly regarded UK-based collective The Art of Dining<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\nActually, she started out studying math, but she got bored and decided to become a chef. She landed an internship at a top restaurant in London and was instantly hooked. Since then, she\u2019s been creating spectacular, always sold-out events combining contemporary art and cuisine. She\u2019s made dishes I\u2019ve even photographed. She\u2019s incredibly clever, inventive and good at surprising her audience. For example, she once served a delicious Thai broth in a teacup. She loves playing with expectations. Like dishes that look sweet but are in fact bitter, or that seem disgusting but taste amazing. As a matter of fact, being a chef is a bit like being a photographer \u2013 it\u2019s about deceiving the viewer.<\/p>\n
You are one of the world\u2019s greatest photographers, but you have spent your whole life capturing the banality of everyday life. On can think about your series on bored couples. How do you explain that?<\/p>\n
There are people in my agency, Magnum, who are far more talented than I am when it comes to photographing war and tragedy. Personally, I\u2019m happier in a supermarket, taking pictures of the shelves, trying to reinvent reality, the ordinary, than in a city falling apart. But I believe both are worthy photography subjects.<\/p>\n
Real Food by Martin Parr, London: Phaidon Press, 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin Parr passed away on December 6th, 2025. For the release of his cookbook titled Real Food in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46,102330],"class_list":["post-173827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-martin-parr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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