THE FOOD PORN PHENOMENON.
The term "Food Porn" was first used in 1984 by Rosalind Cowards, a journalist, writer, and university lecturer. Over the years this expression has literally been filled with meanings, influencing not only the media and the world of food but also our lives. In fact, very often we see people intent on photographing dishes, raw materials or places related to food, we ourselves often share our outings in restaurants or clubs, publishing on the various types of social photographs and descriptions of what we eat. But what are the implications of this phenomenon? Through this brief study I would like to reflect on some points that characterize it, to better define its contours and its presence today.
Food is, generally, by its very nature synonymous with sharing, exchange, socialization and a vehicle for generating social bonds and cohesion. The phenomenon of Food Porn has reversed these characteristics because it focuses its attention not on the food itself but on its image. This has generated inevitable and strong mutations: attention to aesthetics, understood as the presentation of the dish and raw materials or, in general, of the food to be photographed or filmed; the accentuation of some aspects that can be traced back to the food world and its totality, but translated only by virtue of the images (desirability, refinement or, on the contrary, simplicity, just to name a few); finally, the birth and development of technologies that strongly modify the appearance and therefore, substantially, also part of the subject.
It is often said that the aesthetics associated with dishes, a characteristic that has always been linked to the cuisine of a certain level, through Food Porn has been made accessible to everyone, without distinction. Is this really the case? Is the image of an ice cream of a fast food restaurant bloated, fat, sprinkled with colored sugars or chocolate really and conceptually identical to that of a haute cuisine dish?
Those just mentioned are just some of the elements that can be taken into account for this analysis. The characteristic that, probably, most of all has undergone a strong change is sharing, passing from materiality to, in a certain sense, intangibility, through the exchange of images of food through the various channels that have arisen in recent decades.
There is also (as I mentioned earlier) a differentiation, far from trivial or secondary, between the concept of "modification" of food applied to the two worlds: real and virtual. In the first case, in fact, this aspect is applied materially, through the processes of transformation and / or cooking of the ingredients that change their consistency, appearance, physical-chemical and organoleptic characteristics. In the second, however, the modifications are not real but the result of digital interventions that, with the aim of improving the subject, sometimes also heavily modify the characterizing elements. Which of the two is real food? What cultural and social distortions does all this generate? Given that the purpose of this study is not to give reason to one or the other, I think it is essential to ask ourselves these questions to understand consequently what kind of relationship we want to have with what we eat.
To better understand the meanings of all this, I think it is appropriate to clarify the meaning of the word "Porn", a term that outlines the ability of an individual or an object to draw attention to himself and be able to maintain it. Feature, if we think about it, absolutely important, used not only by those who work on different levels in the world of image linked to food but also by companies. An interesting phenomenon, both for the jobs that until a few years ago were made, and for the consequences from a social point of view. Many large companies related to fast food, in fact, using this important feature and technologies to produce images and videos, have emphasized some characteristics of the products they offer: size, quantity, abundance in condiments and particular textures. This has generated a sort of widespread confusion around the true meaning of "food porn", still too often associated with "junk food" and its negative values both in terms of health and from a cultural and social point of view.
It should also be noted that, in general, sometimes images can mislead the consumer by generating false expectations and therefore disappointment for the differences between the images exhibited on social channels or websites, and the reality of the product offered. On the opposite side, however, in some particular areas, cooking blogs, not perfect photographs and simple and not particularly elaborate dishes are often characteristics that generate curious effects, because they capture the attention of the public making it participate and interactive because it is not intimidated by culinary elaborations too complex or even perfect.
The fiction linked to food therefore has not only social but also anthropological implications, linked to the characteristics and functions inherent not only in what we eat but also to its multiple transformations, a vehicle of very strong meanings since ancient times.
A way of doing photography widespread until a few years ago and now less and less used for the benefit of the real raw material, was the use of products that were often not even edible but had a high yield in visual terms. An aspect linked to the photographic technique of food that perhaps not everyone knows but that adds other pieces to our reasoning and above all to the link between food, image, reality and fiction.
Even today, as I had the opportunity to recall at the beginning of this journey, Food Porn is absolutely present and of vital importance; Instagram is a prime example of this. By virtue of this, numerous courses, articles, tutorials have spread that teach how to produce photos and videos in which the food image is perfect, often using as a slogan the famous phrase that "food is also eaten with the eyes". It is true, after all it has always been so, the aesthetic research of beauty associated with good characterizes the kitchen for a very long time, with different forms and ways, but uniting West and East. However, if the senses are also means through which we get an idea of the world, explore it and know it, what relationship can we establish with an image that does not correspond to reality or is only partially faithful to it? What we feed on, taste teaches us, intrigues, awakens, tempts and satisfies, as long as the relationship with it is real and not totally entrusted to the expectation generated by an image.
I think reflecting on the relationship between image, expectations, ethical and cultural aspects is fundamental, now more than ever, to really give back a fuller value to food, without manifestations or hypocrisies, appreciating what it can give us because it is the result of history, effort, work and passion. A reflection, in short, absolutely still open!
The term "Food Porn" was first used in 1984 by Rosalind Cowards, a journalist, writer, and university lecturer. Over the years this expression has literally been filled with meanings, influencing not only the media and the world of food but also our lives. In fact, very often we see people intent on photographing dishes, raw materials or places related to food, we ourselves often share our outings in restaurants or clubs, publishing on the various types of social photographs and descriptions of what we eat. But what are the implications of this phenomenon? Through this brief study I would like to reflect on some points that characterize it, to better define its contours and its presence today.
Food is, generally, by its very nature synonymous with sharing, exchange, socialization and a vehicle for generating social bonds and cohesion. The phenomenon of Food Porn has reversed these characteristics because it focuses its attention not on the food itself but on its image. This has generated inevitable and strong mutations: attention to aesthetics, understood as the presentation of the dish and raw materials or, in general, of the food to be photographed or filmed; the accentuation of some aspects that can be traced back to the food world and its totality, but translated only by virtue of the images (desirability, refinement or, on the contrary, simplicity, just to name a few); finally, the birth and development of technologies that strongly modify the appearance and therefore, substantially, also part of the subject.
It is often said that the aesthetics associated with dishes, a characteristic that has always been linked to the cuisine of a certain level, through Food Porn has been made accessible to everyone, without distinction. Is this really the case? Is the image of an ice cream of a fast food restaurant bloated, fat, sprinkled with colored sugars or chocolate really and conceptually identical to that of a haute cuisine dish?
Those just mentioned are just some of the elements that can be taken into account for this analysis. The characteristic that, probably, most of all has undergone a strong change is sharing, passing from materiality to, in a certain sense, intangibility, through the exchange of images of food through the various channels that have arisen in recent decades.
There is also (as I mentioned earlier) a differentiation, far from trivial or secondary, between the concept of "modification" of food applied to the two worlds: real and virtual. In the first case, in fact, this aspect is applied materially, through the processes of transformation and / or cooking of the ingredients that change their consistency, appearance, physical-chemical and organoleptic characteristics. In the second, however, the modifications are not real but the result of digital interventions that, with the aim of improving the subject, sometimes also heavily modify the characterizing elements. Which of the two is real food? What cultural and social distortions does all this generate? Given that the purpose of this study is not to give reason to one or the other, I think it is essential to ask ourselves these questions to understand consequently what kind of relationship we want to have with what we eat.
To better understand the meanings of all this, I think it is appropriate to clarify the meaning of the word "Porn", a term that outlines the ability of an individual or an object to draw attention to himself and be able to maintain it. Feature, if we think about it, absolutely important, used not only by those who work on different levels in the world of image linked to food but also by companies. An interesting phenomenon, both for the jobs that until a few years ago were made, and for the consequences from a social point of view. Many large companies related to fast food, in fact, using this important feature and technologies to produce images and videos, have emphasized some characteristics of the products they offer: size, quantity, abundance in condiments and particular textures. This has generated a sort of widespread confusion around the true meaning of "food porn", still too often associated with "junk food" and its negative values both in terms of health and from a cultural and social point of view.
It should also be noted that, in general, sometimes images can mislead the consumer by generating false expectations and therefore disappointment for the differences between the images exhibited on social channels or websites, and the reality of the product offered. On the opposite side, however, in some particular areas, cooking blogs, not perfect photographs and simple and not particularly elaborate dishes are often characteristics that generate curious effects, because they capture the attention of the public making it participate and interactive because it is not intimidated by culinary elaborations too complex or even perfect.
The fiction linked to food therefore has not only social but also anthropological implications, linked to the characteristics and functions inherent not only in what we eat but also to its multiple transformations, a vehicle of very strong meanings since ancient times.
A way of doing photography widespread until a few years ago and now less and less used for the benefit of the real raw material, was the use of products that were often not even edible but had a high yield in visual terms. An aspect linked to the photographic technique of food that perhaps not everyone knows but that adds other pieces to our reasoning and above all to the link between food, image, reality and fiction.
Even today, as I had the opportunity to recall at the beginning of this journey, Food Porn is absolutely present and of vital importance; Instagram is a prime example of this. By virtue of this, numerous courses, articles, tutorials have spread that teach how to produce photos and videos in which the food image is perfect, often using as a slogan the famous phrase that "food is also eaten with the eyes". It is true, after all it has always been so, the aesthetic research of beauty associated with good characterizes the kitchen for a very long time, with different forms and ways, but uniting West and East. However, if the senses are also means through which we get an idea of the world, explore it and know it, what relationship can we establish with an image that does not correspond to reality or is only partially faithful to it? What we feed on, taste teaches us, intrigues, awakens, tempts and satisfies, as long as the relationship with it is real and not totally entrusted to the expectation generated by an image.
I think reflecting on the relationship between image, expectations, ethical and cultural aspects is fundamental, now more than ever, to really give back a fuller value to food, without manifestations or hypocrisies, appreciating what it can give us because it is the result of history, effort, work and passion. A reflection, in short, absolutely still open!
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