Week #2: Write-up

Christopher Boffoli
Photo from Big Appetites series

Christopher Boffoli
Photo from Big Appetites series

Christopher Boffoli
Photo from Big Appetites series

I would like to thank Facebook for introducing me to Christopher Boffoli. I was scrolling through my newsfeed a few weeks ago, and stumbled on his Big Appetites series. Christopher is a photographer, filmmaker, writer and journalist from Seattle. He’s travelled most of the world and documented his adventures through photography and film. This well-known series has been published in print and online in over 100 countries.

The television programs of his youth, and some of his personal experiences, inspired Christopher. He was a small person in a large world. He chose to work with food because of the vibrant colours and interesting textures he could achieve simply by using the proper lighting. Food is also a universal subject that can be recognized by all types of people regardless of culture, language and location.

Another inspiration for this series was the project Travelers by Walter Martin & Paloma Muñoz. They created small dioramas inside snow globes. Some were whimsical and beautiful, but Christopher was more attracted to their disturbing works. All three artists work in the same scale and photograph the tiny details.

Christopher works with foods that are in season that he can purchase at local farmers’ markets. He also likes to use iconic American foods and name brands such as Oreo Cookies and Twinkies. He hopes that those foods will spark childhood memories in his viewers. All of the figures are extremely detailed and hand painted by the artists. 

This type of photography is very precise and technical. Michael Smith wrote that, "technique... gives form to expression, it also helps to shape and modify that expression." I believe that Christopher's macro photography shows a lot of expression through the movement that he creates (even though nothing is actually moving), and the vibrant colours he uses.

Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz
Traveler 78 at Night

Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz
Traveler 218

http://www.martin-munoz.com/main.html

http://bigappetites.net/series/

Work Cited

Boffoli, C. (2012). Big Appetites Series. Retrieved from http://bigappetites.net/

Martin. W. & Munoz, P. (2014). Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz. Retrieved from    http://www.martin-munoz.com/main.html
Smith, M. (2011). On Teaching Photography. Retrieved from http://www.michaelandpaula.com/mp/onteachphoto.html