Food Frames

Every mother must admonish her child if he or she plays with food. However,there is no scolding photographer Rohit Chawla for playing with his,given that the resulting spread transforms into an abstract painting. The concept of food as art is certainly not a new one. But the abstract and highly modern manner in which Chawla has chosen to shoot the dishes presented by the chefs at The Leela,Delhi,is rather unique. The result is a book,titled The Fine Art of Food,which has text by author William Dalrymple. It was launched at The Leela Palace on September 27,with much fanfare.

“I have tried to walk away from conventional food photography in a still life format,usually depicted by laden tables — with plates and cutlery — that often distracts the viewer. For this series,I removed all props and distilled the background to a pure white space,” says Chawla. The food,or should we say the dish,has been placed on a transparent glass surface and bottom-lit by white light,and hence appears to float in space. What we see are flying fish,floating prawns,green onions whizzing past and corn and spring beans that appear to dance past the viewers’ eyes. All this has been achieved without using Photoshop,claims the artist.

As he did with his earlier series celebrating the beauty of the woman,which quoted from Expressionist painter Gustav Klimt’s work,Chawla has referenced the European Modern Masters for creating some of his compositions. “The food presented in this minimalist fashion becomes colours,lines,shapes and forms that remind me of (Abstract Expressionist) Piet Mondrian’s abstracts and (Cubist) Georges Braque’s work that captured the essence of an object rather than its appearance,” says Chawla.

The glossy,square format book,which features 50 recipes from the kitchens of The Leela,with corresponding shots by Chawla,is divided into five sections: Megu,Le Cirque,Jamavar,Modern Cuisine and Desserts. The book is currently available at the Leela,price on request.