Tuve la suerte de conocer a Beth Kirby en un taller sobre fotografía gastronómica que se celebró en Formentera durante 5 días en Junio. La seguía desde hacía mucho tiempo tanto en blog Local Milk como en su cuenta de Instagram homónima (con 680k seguidores). Beth empezó su blog compartiendo recetas que ella misma elaboraba, y comprobó como sus visitas aumentaban a medida que su nivel de fotografía mejoraba. Tanto es así, que su dirección de arte sumada a un carácter muy perfeccionista, analítico y técnico, ha hecho de sus fotografías verdaderas obras de arte. Durante el taller, pude comprobar el valor añadido de una “blogger” (detesto la palabra) como ella, ya que ella misma prepara su receta, la atrezza con el estilismo pertinente y luego lo fotografía. Pero su trabajo no termina aquí. Ella misma ha encontrado su sello en su retoque, dotando a sus fotos de un aire dramático y oscuro y acompañádolas de un texto nada más lejos de ser plano.
En este artículo podréis ver algunas de sus fotografías y comprobarlo por vosotros mismos ni no la conocíais. Ahora mismo, y dado a sus Local Milk Retreats alrededor del mundo, está empezando a hacer más fotografía de viaje, algo que no ha sido intencionado sinó circunstancial. También va a ser madre, y está disfrutando feliz la espera, eso sí, sin bajar el ritmo ni un ápice, ya que nos encontramos ante una mujer muy constante y con mucho talento, cosa que queda reflejada en sus miles de seguidores alrededor del mundo. In the Mood for Food le hace unas preguntas a Beth Kirby:
- WHAT DROVE YOU TO BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER?
Initially I was driven by a desire to share my recipes. I’ve cooked my whole life, ever since I was a child. It’s a passion that I also find relaxing, and I decided in my late twenties that I wanted to turn that into a career. I knew the trenches of a chef’s world weren’t for me, so I decided to develop recipes. I quickly realized no one paid much heed to my recipes without beautiful photos, so I dove in and taught myself to take photos. I quickly realized that photography was, like cooking, another passion I found relaxing. And so it became just as important to me as the cooking itself.
- WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STYLIST?
Singular focus and time. There is no quick, easy way to be great at anything. Passion begets hours poured into something. Hours poured into something beget skill. You have to choose something and focus on it. For me, that ended up being photography.
- WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
So much! Travel, food, and design all inspire me, naturally. I have a background in art criticism, philosophy, and literature and those all come through in their various ways too. At the core, what inspires me as a creative is the concept of metaphor—the idea of finding the interconnectedness in all thing, even the most disparate.
- WHY IS “THE ART OF SLOW LIVING” SO IMPORTANT FOR YOUR WORK?
My philosophy of slowness is twofold: I believe that creating great work takes time, and I believe that in order for that time spent working to be productive it’s necessary to spend enough time on self-care, having inspiring experiences, and relationships. Time and hard work coupled with the richness and reserves of balance in life are what make not just for success but contentment. I struggle with it all as much as the next person with that balance, and I suppose we’re inclined to fixate on what vexes us.
- WHAT DO YOU TEACH IN YOUR RETREATS AROUND THE WORLD?
I see the teaching as a secondary component to the retreat: they are first and foremost meant to be culinary & travel experience to inspire and replenish our guests. But while there we teach photography & visual storytelling because it’s such a meaningful way to interact with those experience, and because visual storytelling can benefit all people from all walks of life at this point in history.
- WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT?
I really love Clove Club in London, and Kimball House in Atlanta. Septime (Paris), Eatrip (Tokyo, and Monk (Kyoto) are also in my top, top list. Those are the nice ones. But a lot of my favorite places around the world are little dives and local joints: Miznon (a pita place in the Jewish quarter) in Paris, La Cova Fumada (old school tapas) in Barcelona, a little stall in Marrakech in the market square that serves potato stuffed bread with egg and cumin salt, and my favorite ramen place in Tokyo
- DESCRIBE ME YOUR IDEAL GATHERING (WITH WHO, WHERE, WHAT…)
My ideal gathering is, frankly, nothing like the events I host. It would be on the back of my parents little old houseboat with my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and niece grilling out. No styling, maybe I cook and maybe I don’t, but I’m with my family on the water. I mean it wouldn’t hurt if we were on the back of a sailboat in clear, blue waters…but I’ll take the Tennessee River at home in a pinch. Haha.
- SHOW ME ONE OF PICTURES THAT YOU TOOK THAT YOU LOVE
Its this one:
- Todas las fotos de este artículo son de Beth Kirby