Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography

From the first appearance of photographs in the early 1900s, food has always been an interesting subject for professional photographers who have captured it in advertisements, cookbooks, photojournalism and art. But what was Food Photography like before the arrival of Instagram, Pinterest and Social Media in general? 

The answer can be found in Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography, a new book published by Aperture Foundation. Susan Bright, the author and art writer, has collected a chronological selection of 200 pictures, which show how food photography has evolved since the early 20th century.

Feast for the Eyes explores 100 years of food photography, from commercial advertising to fine art, showing how food consumption has changed and how culinary delights have been plated, presented and documented over the years.

Susan Bright explores important figures and movements of food photography: Martin Parr, Edward Weston, Roger Fenton, Cindy Sherman, Victor Keppler, Irving Penn, Nickolas Muray, Stephen Shore, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nobuyoshi Araki and Sophie Calle are just some of the famous photographers featured in the book.

We have selected some amazing pictures from the book, enjoy the gallery at the top of the page!