FOODPHOTO FESTIVAL 2019 Vejle - Review by Stevan Paul
A personal review by our host Stevan Paul. Thank you Stevan! Link zum Originalbericht
Every two years, the International FOODPHOTO FESTIVAL takes place in the small town of Vejle in Denmark, where (food) photographers, food stylists, art buyers, agents and cookbook creators meet to exchange ideas – this time with guests from 27 countries around the world! There are accompanying large exhibitions on contemporary food photography, workshops, talks, panels, portfolio reviews and conferences, and in the evening people meet for a networking dinner and at the festival bar. The highlights are the awards at the screening in the theater, food photography on the big screen, with music composed especially for it!
It is no exaggeration to say that these are always magical days, the (professional) audience is friendly and open to each other, and also super-interested when it comes to talking about their own work, problems and solutions.
For those who couldn't be there, here is a brief outline of the days – but with lots of interesting links to interesting people and inspiring work.
All photos in this post, unless otherwise stated, by Frank Peters, thank you Frank!)
Workshops
The International Food Photo Festival always starts with workshop days. The courses can be booked individually and are very popular! Colleagues share their expertise in groups with a limited number of participants.
Opening and exhibitions
The hosts: event manager Manon Straver (YBT) and the founder and curator of the festival: Günter Beer! (Photos: Anders Brohus)
The official festival opening, like the entire festival, took place for the first time in the middle of the city, in the Old Theater
, a new home with more space for all exhibitions and a large hall for the conferences. In addition to the hosts Manon Straver and Günter Beer, the mayor of Vejile and the city's tourism board also graced the stage with their presence – this year my workplace, as moderator of the festival.
The founder and curator of the festival, photographer Günter Beer, opened the exhibition and encouraged the new moderator: “The most spoken foreign language in the world is bad English!”
Petrina Tinslay (Australia) – planning a cookbook
The first guest on the conference stage was Petrina Tinslay, an Australian photographer who has already worked with Nigella Lawson, Donna Hay, Tyler Florence, Bill Granger, Michele Cranston, Delia Smith, Mark Best and Neil Perry – and talked about her work on a cookbook.
It quickly became clear that the problems are the same elsewhere, too: budgets are shrinking in a fast-moving market. In the future, it will be more important than ever to stand up for quality, as it is the only way to survive in the long term in the best profession in the world: cookbook making. Petrina Tinslay showed touchingly beautiful work and explained planning strategies for successful cookbooks.
Scott Grummett, Hans Gerlach, Daria Khoroshavina – Stop Motion versus Cinemagraph or Video
More and more people prefer to look at pictures rather than read, the basis is classic photography, moving images are becoming increasingly popular, the online sector promotes and demands new formats.
The youngest moving image format, cinemagraphs, is a technique that is just a little over ten years old in which parts of a photo are moved and looped, capturing and directing the eye of the beholder. Cinemagraphs tell small, quiet stories, an extremely beautiful and meditative affair when done carefully – like the works of Daria Khoroshavina, which you should definitely take a look at:
Cinemagraphs by Daria Khoroshavina (Kitchen Ghosts)
From Germany, Hans Gerlach was a guest, who has perfected the stop-motion technique, which we know mainly from old children's and fairy tale films, for the food sector. He and his team regularly create elaborate short films of great lightness.
Scott Grummet
is a photographer, filmmaker and producer who creates elaborate films for big brands – I love his stuff!
There was agreement on the stage that moving images will continue to grow, that each format deserves and requires its own area of application – and that not everything works for everyone. In any case, the films, gifs and short films should be exciting and well made, and at best should not underwhelm the viewer but rather sweep them away and surprise them.
Geoff Binns-Calvey – the food styling machinist
Geoff Binns-Calvey is from Chicago and a legend. The friendly man with the wonderfully dry sense of humor always comes by when food photo sets or shoots require special effects, such as spinning cheeseburgers in slow motion, exploding drinks, and raging fires.
The man behind the curtain is a magician who searches for solutions, invents and builds individual machines that provide perfect control on the food set. You've got to keep control! He gave a rousing and hilarious account of his work, showed pictures and film documentaries, an hour was far too short!
Hans Gerlach – Stopmotion
Once again Hans, with more in-depth information on the subject of stop motion, he explained, among other things, his work for the Süddeutsche Zeitung Online, showed ways and techniques to get involved yourself. In his own modesty, he also dispelled concerns about the complexity of such productions: “A classic film takes more time.”
Network Dinner
Paulina de la Cerda (Foodstylist and Chef, Guatemala), Rico Feldfoss (Photographer, Denmark), Mary Valentine, (Foodstylist, USA), Scott Grummet (Film/Photo/Producer, UK), Heidi Robb (Foodstylist, USA) – click the links to see their brilliant works!
Skye Trayler – Why should I work with an agent?
Skye Trayler from the London-based agency Trayler & Trayler also runs Rare by Trayler, an agency specializing in food professionals. Right at the beginning, she corrected her opening question: should I work with an agency at all? Her clear message: not at any price and not with any agency – those who bind themselves forever should check whether something better can be found. Skye Trayler convincingly explained the advantages of a trusting and long-term collaboration. She was also clear about the percentages: this is something that needs to be negotiated individually, with a large and well-established agency sometimes taking up to 25 percent – anything above that, however, is debatable or even questionable. An annual or even monthly ground fee is also rather unusual. Above all, Skye Trayler advised approaching the topic without fear, looking at several agencies and getting to know each other first – then the collaboration can become a success story for everyone!
Jade Sarkhel – Instagram for food photographers
Jade Sarkhel's lecture on Instagram was met with enthusiasm, partly astonished faces and many in-depth questions when Jade Sarkhel talked about new techniques and possibilities, the interest was huge! I was delighted to see how many photographers have finally arrived on Instagram (when I spoke about it in Vejle two years ago, it was still rather skeptical individual cases) – and as Jade Sarkhel put it, Instagram is the new calling card, I notice it myself quite clearly when traveling – in Australia and Japan, for example, nothing works without an Instagram link. Jade Sarkhel's tips and techniques were useful, as was the pdf of the lecture, which was sent by email a few days later on request.
Jade Nina Sarkhel on Instagram
Tony Le Duc – the photographer as publisher
Early on, Dutch food photographer Tony Le Duc committed himself to only two things: excellence and uncompromising quality. You reach your limits extremely quickly in the cookbook industry, which is why Tony Le Duc started making the cookbooks he wants to make. His presentation left me open-mouthed. These books are among the most beautiful and well-thought-out I have ever seen.
But Tony Le Duc also talked about the downsides, the grueling work, the lack of earnings, and the breakups with partners. It's not easy to summarize what Tony Le Duc says: “At first I'm only interested in beauty, I just like to make beautiful things.” Like his work on the Baroque painter Frans Snijders.
A great artist that I've only just discovered – that's the FOODPHOTO FESTIVAL, too.
Tony Le Duc Publishing MINESTRONE
Vijay Sapre – 10 years of Effilee
Vijay Sapre also brought money with him to get Germany's most intelligent food magazine off the ground. Now, ten years later, Effilee Magazine is breaking even for the first time. Vijay told us a witty and colorful story of the early days, and his journey through time was particularly touching for photographer Andrea Thode and me: we have come a long way together, courageously and always in new directions. All of this has only been possible because the Sapre principle is based on trust, because he gives the contributors and collaborators of Effilee Magazine a great deal of freedom, knowing that this can be a great incentive.
Pleased to meet: Katrin Press (Photographer, Estonia), Vivi D'Angelo (Photographer, Germany), Laurel Ziemienski (Foodstylist USA)
FoodPhoto On Stage – Big Screening and Festival Award
This is the highlight of the festival and something everyone should experience and see: food photography on a big movie screen! 4 times 15 minutes of outstanding work from the current food photography scene, 800 images, selected from 230 series entries from all over the world!
The wonderful audience was enthusiastic and in high spirits from the first second on, what an evening! The community spirit that characterizes this festival was tangible at the awards.
Carmen Troesser (Photographer, USA) Winner FOODPHOTO AWARD 2017
Dr. Sandra Ruff (Senior Editor Athesia Kalenderverlag)
Sylvia Meijer (Director of Photography, MPG)
Peter Steiner (Art Director-Legend and Jury Speaker)
FOODPHOTO AWARD 2019
From left to right: juror Dr. Sandra Ruff, juror and winner of the FOODPHOTO AWARD 2017 Carmen Troesser, winner of the FOODPHOTO AWARD 2019 Saskia de Wal, winner of the FOODFEATRUE AWARD 2019 Vivi D'Angelo, juror Sylvia Meijer, juror Peter Steiner, curator Günter Beer
The Nominees:
FOODFEATURE 2019
The nominees:
This called for a celebration. So we celebrated.
