Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of working alongside such a talented food photographer (and good friend), Jane Mitchell. And that is why Jane’s very first photo exhibition feels as much as my own personal journey – very much like a table tour around a buffet of world cuisine.

Looking back, there have been so many memorable encounters with culinary ambassadors from around the world, and Jane’s beautiful, vivid photos conjure some of those most delicious days. From chronicling Ukrainian and Creole cooking classes, photographing Syrian refugee cooks for Project Chefugee, snapping Japanese-French chefs from the Michelin-starred universe, and peeking behind Dominican kitchens to capture the silent stories told with flour-dusted hands.

To be clear, we never thought of ourselves as culinary sophisticates – just creatives with boundless appetites. But perhaps because every experience also prompted us to ask deeper questions about certain ingredients, spices and cooking techniques – which I’ve discovered are so closely tied to the cultures and histories of the people that have been sharing their cuisine with us – I can say that we’ve certainly levelled up as food nerds these past few years.

This culinary journey reminds me of the last few lines toward the end of David Foster Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster” (questions that have been slow cooking in my head lately): “After all, isn’t being extra aware and attentive and thoughtful about one’s food and its overall context part of what distinguishes a real gourmet? Or is all the gourmet’s extra attention and sensibility just supposed to be aesthetic, gustatory?”

*****

FOODOGRAFÍA official launch and cocktails will be on Thursday, 5 April 2018 at Ruta 20 (C/ General Alvarez de Castro 20, metro: Quevedo/Iglesia/Canal).