I recently sat down with Russel Wasserfall from A Table in the Corner, a podcast where he chats to people in the food industry about their passion and their take on the business of eating. We chat about my path as a food photographer, the images and breaks along the way as well as my new foray into ceramics and making 60 plates for one of the world’s top restaurants.
I met Russel way back in 2013, I had just started this blog, the photos were dreadful and that led me to take part in a food photography workshop he was presenting. Russel has created and photographed more than a few of the iconic cookbooks in South African history so there was no way I could miss an opportunity to learn from a legend. During that weekend he helped me discover that I had an eye and a talent to take photos of food. Not long after that he gave me my first break into the industry by asking me to contribute to Market Day, a journal he was publishing for the famous Neighbourgoods Market in Cape Town. My work in the journal was seen by Hilary Biller of the Sunday Times and my photography career just took off.
We chat about this path as well as some of my winning images in the globally renowned Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year competition. I have had great success in the competition with 2 winning images and 8 finalist images over the years and thought it apt to show a few here to view while you listen to the podcast.
“Caramel!” Winner : Food Bloggers 2017
“Bonnet Delights” Winner : On the Phone 2023
“Chilling Out” Finalist : Bring Home the Harvest 2019
“Millefeuille” Finalist : Food Bloggers 2016
“Madeira Cake” Finalist : Marks & Spencer Food Portraiture 2020
“China Town” Finalist : On the Phone 2020
“Night Market” Highly Commended : Winterbotham Darby Food for Sale 2020
Give Russel and A Table in the Corner a follow on Instagram, subscribe to his podcast to listen to some great episodes coming up and why not suggest someone you admire or want to learn more about so he can chat to them on a future episode.
And should you not follow me yet, please head to my Instagram account and follow.
Hennale Steyn
Feb 15, 2024
Fab Fotos! Geluk
heinstirred
Feb 15, 2024
Dankie Hennale
Russel Wasserfall
Feb 15, 2024
Thank for the acknowledgement Hein. Your work is stunning. I knew from that first look at what you produced in the workshop that you would take our craft to new heights. Chatting to you on the show was a delight.
heinstirred
Feb 18, 2024
Thanks Russel. Was such a pleasure