Current Food photography styles and trends

Food photography now has a much more creative outlet, much like fashion photography and significantly relates to today’s lifestyles.

Overall, my research for my dissertation and this blog has allowed me to conclude that while there is not a specific comprehensive history on food photography, there is still a substantial amount written about it, reflected by increased consumer interest in food and diet in today’s Western, consumerist society. While the genre has been constrained to commercial realms, we have seen that it is slowly becoming credible in the art world with notable exhibitions and highly creative features appearing in popular food magazines. I hope that there will be a continuation of this in the future as the subject is so prolific with possibilities that it is fruitless to stop now. 

I've already stumbled across some great writing on current food photography styles and trends on this great blog called Desserts for Breakfast. Using a (rather delicious-looking) chocolate cake, Anita Chu and Stephanie Shih look at different styles in contemporary food photography, across the whole spectrum; from product/packaging to various editorial styles used in a wide range of publications - mirroring the moodier photography style used in 'Food and Travel' to the more bright and propped seen in 'BBC Good Food'

This 'Chiaroscuro' style image, the clear contrast between light and dark, highlights the strong influence from still life paintings like Caravaggio and the Dutch Masters.

You can read more about their blog post here 

And you can read more about the team behind it and their newly launched magazine 'Sated' here