Food Porn

Lately, I'm pretty positive you've heard/seen the Food Porn concept around quite a bit and you were probably a bit confused about it...at least the first time, right? Well, it is actually a concept that I like and find quite accurate as it makes reference to a glamorized, spectacular visual presentation of food, either for advertisements, cooking shows, or any visual media; that including: magazines, books, websites, blogs and so on.

The term has been used for over 10 years now but it had never before been as hot as these day when everyone seems to love, not only eating, but cooking. Nowadays, the Lifestyle TV Networks are swamped with all kinds of Cooking shows as well as with TV presenters that are on your screen with the sole purpose of eating and make you drool over most of the things they get to try. Well, thanks to those shows, getting visuals of Food has become almost a necessity! 

Now a days people doesn't care just about Food tasting good, but now it also has to look good, you know, it's the whole "Love at first sight" thing all over again, except, with Food. Now people is eager to have good-looking Food so they can immediately show the World (through Social Media) what they're having is hot!

Personally, I like to think I create Food Porn Photography material whenever I'm shooting Food as I put all my effort in making the shot in a way that I know or feel will make people, if not drool over it, at least feel hungry...even if they just ate, you know? Whenever someone comes up to me and goes like "OMG, your photo just made me hungry", I feel really flattered, like I've accomplished my purpose and, at the same time, it makes me wanna keep on shooting more and more Food.

If you still don't quite grasp the Food Porn concept, here's a website that will make it all clear for you: http://www.foodporn.net It's a site containing photos of all kinds of Food and it all looks simply delicious (it's real Food Porn!); all the material is submitted by different people and when you click on an image, you get the details regarding the user and the actual source of the image, and you can also rate it and comment on it. All in all, a GREAT Food Porn Database!

Here are some examples of my Food Porn, enjoy!

Brunch

Playing around a bit with textures, light and reflections during brunch, a couple of nice shots came as result...yummie, right?

Strawberry & Butter Bread

Texturized Coffee

World Press Photo 2012

The World Press Photo Awards have come to be one of the most important and well recognized Photographic Awards all over the World, and the most prestigious Photojournalism Award.

A group of 19 internationally recognized professionals in the field of photojournalism and documentary photography have convened in Amsterdam from 28 January until 9 February 2012 to judge the entries. 

This jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Samuel Aranda from Spain (Cataluña, to be more precise) as the World Press Photo of the Year 2011. The picture shows a woman holding a wounded relative in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen on 15 October 2011. Samuel Aranda was working in Yemen on assignment for The New York Times.

In my opinion, it is such a powerful image as it shows the (most common) role of Arab women in the modern non-sense wars. And, even though you can barely see the nose of this woman, you can tell by her body language she is suffering while holding her loved one in her arms.

Also, I really like that it is an image that says a lot and is very strong, without the need of showing any blood or actual wounded body parts or anything like that, as it has been shown in previous years winner's photographs. This photo tells you so much in such simplicity, it's just as inspiring as discouraging at the same time.

57 photographers were awarded this year and, sometime around September, people in Mexico City will be able to assist to the World Press Photo exhibition, which takes place every year at the Franz Mayer Museum, as a part of the Photo-Septiembre Activities Program.

Mexican Traditions - Día de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day)

Mexico is a Country very well known for its many and quite interesting traditions. As a Mexican, I find it important not only to follow traditions and enjoy them but to spread the word about them and reach as many people as possible. I wanna show people Mexico is much more than just Tequila, Tacos and Cactus: Mexico is an incredibly rich country in many ways, full of great people, culture, food and, of course, traditions.

One of the first great traditions of the year is the "Día de la Candelaria" or Candlemas, which is celebrated on February 2nd. It is mainly a religious and family celebration, but in some places, such as Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, it is a major party with bullfights and parades. People all over Mexico on this date dress up figures of baby Jesus and take him to the church to be blessed, and they wrap up the holiday by getting together with family and friends to eat and continue the celebration.

This holiday is a follow-up to the festivities of King's Day on January 6th, when children receive gifts and families and friends break bread together, specifically Rosca de Reyes, a special sweet bread with figurines hidden inside. The person (or people) who get the figurines on Kings Day are supposed to host the party on Candlemas Day when, traditionally, Tamales are the food of choice.

Me and my family shared some Tamales trying to follow the tradition and, besides being delicious, they photograph well. Now take a look at these photos and tell me you don't want a bite of this!