E Y E W I T N E S S
L O N D O N
“it was while visiting
a local fruit and veg market that
I first had the idea of using food to create landscapes.
I came across these amazing Portobello mushrooms
and was struck by how much they looked like weird trees,
so decided to bring them back to my studio to make a
little scene. When that was done, I thought, ‘That’s
interesting. What else can I do?’ Foodscapes were born.
“This Crockerville scene was a commission by
American cookie-mix company Betty Crocker for their
Christmas ad. They wanted something with a magical,
Christmassy feel. It was the most elaborate foodscape
we’ve built to date, but we managed it using only Betty
Crocker products: rocky-road ice cream for the road,
chocolate-chip cookie houses and even cookie-dough
clouds, which we laid on a sheet of glass. It took about six
weeks to make, including wiring all the lights and two days
retouching, and then a further four days shooting. My
studio has never smelled so good.
“The hardest foodscape to make was the Fishscape,
which used a hell of a lot of fish. When we started there
was blood everywhere and it was a real mess, but luckily
as the day progressed, the scene got better. So much, in
fact, it’s now my all-time favourite piece – probably
because of that moment of potential disaster.
“You can currently see our foodscape of Venice’s Rialto
Bridge as part of the Harrods Christmas window display
in Knightsbridge, London. Next, we’re doing some advert
pieces for Warburtons using pancakes and then Mr
Kipling. There’s always plenty coming in to keep us busy.”
Carl Warner’s book, A World of Food, and prints of his work
are available for purchase at
carlwarner.com
Good enough
to eat
In our regular peek through a photographer’s
lens, Brit
Carl Warner
explains the secrets
behind his (incr)edible landscapes
0 1 9
AS TOLD TO
JACK PALFREY
R E G U L A R S
