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Culture March 31, 2017
Have you ever scrolled down #foodporn photos on Instagram or picked up the latest cookbook from Martha Stewart and wondered about the stories behind the recipe? If you’ve ever wanted to peek behind the photo – or have an overwhelming love for the 1970s – “The Photographer’s Cookbook” is the read you’ve been waiting for!
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What is “The Photographer’s Cookbook”? And why should you care about Ed Ruscha’s cactus omelet or William Eggleston’s cheese grits casserole? Keep reading to discover those answers and more in six fun facts about “The Photographer’s Cookbook”!
Remember that time you were looking for your favorite tube of lipstick in your crowded nightstand…only to find that masterpiece of a notebook from seventh grade instead? Take your excitement, multiply it by one hundred, and you can relate to how Lisa Hostetler, curator of the photography department at George Eastman Museum, felt when she discovered this “photo cookbook.” Deborah Barsel began the project in the late 1970s, asking photographers to submit their favorite recipe. When Barsel left the museum for grad school, though, the project stalled.
Slate reports, however, that Hostetler later fell in love with the “quirky” collection of “letters, recipes and photographs.” With help from Aperture Senior Editor Denise Wolff, Hostetler cut the 150 submissions down to 49 to form today’s published version of “The Photographer’s Cookbook.”
Whether you’re a foodie, a photography aficionado or just a 70s lover, it’s impossible not to laugh at the personality in some of these recipes. As Vogue explains, John Gassage simply replied to the request for a recipe with a postcard saying, “I eat out.”
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And, in Ralph Steiner’s recipe for Zwei Vier Minuten Eier, Steiner writes: “Basically, I am more a basse cuisine than a haute cuisine chef. I got my cordon bleu not in Paris but in Erie, Pennsylvania. There I learned two accomplishments: A. How to take a box of cornflakes down from the shelf; B. How to boil two 4-minute eggs.”
This may not be the cookbook to pull down from the shelf when you need a dish to impress your future mother-in-law…but if you need a hit of sass, eccentricity or 70s groove, this is your book!
I know, I know – another cliché. But “The Photographer’s Cookbook” illustrates how people’s favorite recipes can reveal aspects of their personalities. To Slate, Hostetler even compares reading the book to“going back in time to experience the photographer’s personality as it was in the 1977…with all the crazy lingo and pop cultural references that went along with it.”
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Amazon reviewers agree. “Who wouldn’t want to know famous photographers’ favorite dishes?” writes Judith Leatherman. “Some match up perfectly with personalities and others are a complete surprise – that’s the fun of this book!”
Typically, cookbooks follow a certain food trend or pattern. For instance, the comforting, made-from-scratch recipes in the Pioneer Woman’s cookbooks or the healthy yet delicious recipes in “Clean Eats.” “The Photographer’s Cookbook” ditches that trend, instead featuring everything from Ansel Adams’ Poached Eggs in Beer to Stephen Shore’s Key Lime Pie Supreme (which actually isn’t shown in the photo – viewers only see crumbs and a stained table cloth!) to Hans Namuth’s Peasant Bread (which doesn’t include any exact times or oven temperatures in the recipe).
If you love contradictions, you’ll love this book even more.
Considering the book’s introduction says “photographers’ talent in the darkroom must also translate into special skills in the kitchen,” readers expect some sort of photographic magic when they open the front cover. While each photo boasts its own kind of flare, no one style dominates the book. As Tasting Table explains, some recipes are “elegantly staged, like hot dogs in ‘Full Dress.’” Others, however, offer readers a personal glance into the photographer’s life, such as photos of a teacup perched on a car’s roof or a mismatched dining table and chairs.
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For some readers, the photographs are what make “The Photographer’s Cookbook” so remarkable. “The pairings of artists’ photos and cooking instructions foreshadow today’s art-driven journals and cookbooks,” writes Catherine Young, “making this not only a fun, beautiful, and provocative book but an important one [that] I share with friends interested in the intersection of art, commerce and food—pretty much everyone these days.”
Instagram, you have some (printed) competition!
You’ve probably heard the saying, “History repeats itself.” Well, “The Photographer’s Cookbook” doesn’t argue anything different. As Hostetler wrote to Slate: “The 1970s has come to be associated with many issues that are still with us today. Women’s rights, general political disillusionment, the mainstreaming of ‘alternative’ lifestyles and subcultures, environmental crisis…”
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At first glance, this book might seem to transport you to another world – but you’ll be surprised just how similar it is to today.
True, this cookbook is unlike any other that you can find inside your mother’s kitchen cabinet. However, “The Photographer’s Cookbook” is also eerily similar to technology and trends that emerged much later than the 1970s – from Instagram to food blogs to #foodporn photography.
To put it simply, this cookbook is packed with more “soul food” than actual, delicious recipes – but that’s part of its charm. You may not eat like a king (or queen) by following the photographers’ instructions…but you certainly will be getting your fill of history, culture and 1970s personality.
