FoodPhoto Festival 2015

I’ve just returned from attending the FoodPhoto Festival 2015 in Vejle, Denmark. The festival was jam packed with events comprising a 2 day conference with numerous speakers, a food photography exhibition with work from around 30 photographers from around the world, numerous workshops and networking events as well as the opportunity for portfolio reviews with editors and buyers from numerous publishers and magazines in Europe.

It was a fantastic experience and so worth traveling all that way but hard to decide which events to attend as it meant missing another one happening at the same time.

One of the conference talks I attended was by Per-Anders & Lotta Jörgensen, the husband and wife team behind Fool Magazine. The food magazine without recipes that has achieved cult status in a very short time. The charming couple talked openly about how they go about finding & creating the stories and photographing them for the magazine.  

Another talk I attended was about trends in food photography and the main noticeable trend is a move away from “farm to table” to “food as art”, “chefs as artists” and “chef as photographer”. The narrative also ignores the environment of the food. It’s full on, top shots of just the food.

“Neo retro” in the shape of the 50’s coming back but with a modern touch. Social media have had an influence and photographers are playing with that ‘style’. Think of those harsh flash food pics you see on Instagram etcc. A good example of this trend is the work of Davide Luciano who exhibited at the festival.

A photo I took during a styling workshop with Mary Valentin

I attended two workshops, “Styling in a Restaurant Setting” and a “Daylight Photography” workshop. The opportunity to see other professionals work is always an invaluable experience and you walk away with tips and ideas to apply within your own processes.

I found the exhibition at the Festival to be incredibly inspirational, being able to see where photographers are taking the art form.  Here is  a list of the photographers’ work I loved:

Davide Luciano
Pelle Bergström
Carmen Troesser
Jean Cazals
Marie Cecile Thijs
Steven Achiam
Corey Arnold

Per-Anders Jörgensen won FOODFEATURE 2015 and FOODPHOTO 2015 for “Eating with the Chefs“.

I was incredibly touched by the hospitality of the organisers as well as my fellow attendees. It was great to feel part of a community of photographers.

I just have to mention the huge fun we had being transported in Porsche to our workshops. Porsche was the official transport of the festival and being driven in cars worth millions was a once in a lifetime opportunity indeed!

I have returned hugely inspired and am ready to start working with the goal to create the most beautiful food images possible for the blog, my clients and of course to exhibit at FoodPhoto Festival 2017.

Below is a gallery of photos I took during my time in Vejle.

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