Fantastic Food Landscapes by Carl Warner

A British artist originally from Liverpool, Carl Warner has been a photographer for around 25 years, working in still life studio photography and the advertising industry.  This background, plus his love of landscape photography and interest in food led to the evolution of his unique art-form of "Foodscapes" in around 2000.

Influenced by Salvador Dali and other surrealists, Carl makes arresting still-life images from a variety of foods, and other day-to-day materials such as office supplies, household appliances and more.

So much goes through my mind whenever I look at Carl Warner's "Foodscapes" that for once, I am almost lost for words. The first word that popped into my head when I laid eyes on his book was "breathtaking". "Intriguing" and "fascinating" soon followed. It's been a few months since I bought his book "Food Landscapes" but whenever I look at these images I still find details as yet undiscovered.

The book shows "behind the scenes" shots of Carl and his team at work creating his series of  "Foodscapes", explains how these were inspired and conceived, and shows the early sketches and list of ingredients used in each image. As a food blogger/writer, aspiring photographer and home cook, this is a book that fascinates me on many different levels.

I am so pleased that Carl has been kind enough to give me permission to use his image "London Skyline" as the new picture header for The London Foodie.  I cannot imagine a better picture for this London food blog.  It shows a stylised view of London with its many iconic buildings compressed into a single scene viewed from the South Bank.  Carl made the dome of St Paul's Cathedral from a watermelon with yellow stripes echoing the lines on the dome, the London Eye from green beans, courgettes, leeks, baby plum tomatoes, while the Thames lamp post was made from mackerel and asparagus, onion and vanilla pods.

The fascinating You Tube video below shows the work that Carl and his team undertook to create the "London Skyline" which was originally commissioned by the Good Food Channel.

Of the many fascinating "Foodscapes" by Carl Warner, "Salmon Sea" is another stunning work. The sea was made of smoked salmon, the rocks from dark soda bread while the sand and pebbles were created from sugar and pinto beans. The foreground trees are sprigs of dill, and new potatoes are used as rocks.

Taking inspiration from "The Wizard of Oz" which Carl saw as a child, he created the "Broccoli Forest". The turmeric path is an allusion to the yellow brick road winding its way through fresh herb bushes, broccoli trees and Jerusalem artichoke rocks, toward a large sugar waterfall set between two bread loaf mountains.

Commissioned by a Swedish fish and seafood company "Fishscape" is Carl's favourite "Foodscape" to date. The concept of "implied design" is key to this work, highlighting the connection of small things in the natural world that look like their larger counterparts.  It is fun to see how an ocean can be "made" out of fish, the wakes of boats from sides of salmon and sprats, oyster shells represent rocks and razor clams become jetties.

"Coralscape" was created in September 2009 using a sheet of rippled glass to create the illusion of looking above and below the surface of water.  Here, tropical fruit represent a small tropical island, while "underwater", a myriad of fruit and dried ingredients from Chinese and Indian supermarkets (including 5 durians) represent coral, plants and fish.

"Salamiscapes" was commissioned by an Italian advertising agency working for Negroni - the salami manufacturer.  They wanted three images made only from the cold cuts they produce, and no other ingredients in the shots.  "Salami river" is one of these three images: the sky, river and waterfalls are made of Parma ham, and mountains are created from Mortadella. Ciabatta and bread sticks were also used for rocks and to make up the log cabin and jetty.

"Cabbage Sea" is a dramatic scene and one of my favourites. Using red cabbage leaves as dark water and wet rocks, radicchio leaves also take the form of the foamy peaks of a turgid sea, its white veins making a perfect representation of the wake of the boat.  A large courgette and marrows form the rocks and a lighthouse toward which the boat is travelling.

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"Garlicshire" depicts a Tolkien-esque scene - elephant garlic bulbs take the shape of dwellings clustered together, on top of Savoy cabbage used for soft vegetation.

Carl Warner's work, turning the mundane into interesting art, is whimsical and fun, and will undoubtedly get you thinking. His pure creativity, photographic technique and innovation are inspirational. I cannot recommend too highly his book "Food Landscapes" of which only a few images are shown here.

To buy Food Landscape, visit Amazon here.
To visit Carl Warner's website and see some of his other work, visit his website here.

Thanks Carl Warner for your permission to use your photographs and particularly the "London Skyline" as The London Foodie's new home page image.

Food Photography & Styling Workshop by Alastair Hendy

I have always been a fan of Alastair Hendy, and enjoyed his food writing and photography in books such as Food and Travels: Asia and more recently Homecook. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Embassy of Ireland in Grosvenor Place for a Food Photography and Styling Workshop sponsored by the Irish Food Board "Bord Bia".

Bord Bia was established in 1994 and has since then promoted links between Irish food and drinks suppliers and their potential or actual customers worldwide. For this event, Bord Bia assembled a good spread of Irish produce to be photographed by us at the Embassy.

One of these products was "Ballymaloe Country Relish", a delicious and spicy tomato conserve with raisins which is the perfect accompaniment for cheeses, cold meats and pork pies. It brought back wonderful memories of my visit to Ballymaloe House and Cookery School in County Cork a few years ago.

Having been photographing food for a year now for this blog, I thought I had some idea of what I was doing. The workshop shook me out of my complacency with the realisation that the techniques of the professional photographer conceal art within art.

Alastair made me think about structuring what for me can be a very haphazard activity. I learnt that giving a little thought to what I am shooting and trying to convey will help me tell a coherent story. The use of props and natural light was also discussed as well as other technical aspects I had not given proper weight to.

I would not say that I left the building that evening a better photographer. I realised however that a good food photographer will need more than just enthusiasm and a little creative flair, and that some basic techniques certainly help a great deal.

Thanks to the Embassy of Ireland, Bord Bia and Alastair Hendy for a very interesting and enlightening evening.