One of many food photos on my phone: the roasted asparagus sandwich from Logan.
Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com
Last week, while I was dining out at the Roadhouse, Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig caught me comparing my plate of farro to a picture I had taken of the same dish with my phone two weeks prior.
A quick search through my phone reveals that this is not a limited occurrence. A good 50 percent of the pictures are of food of some sort. (The other 50 percent are pictures of my 8-year-old son, naturally.) I’ll snap a picture of a beautifully arranged plate, a well presented hamburger, or maybe a new dish I’m cooking that I want to share with my Facebook friends. In the case of the Zingerman’s farro dish, the picture was meant to remind me to look up the origins of the grain, since it was new to me.
Apparently I am not the only diner who obsessively photographs her meals. The New York Times
has a story about pervasive trend of photographing food and posting the pictures online.
The new farro entree at Zingerman's Roadhouse. It's delicious, by the way.
Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com
According to the Times, there is a movement of people who take pictures of everything they eat and post it to their blogs. For some, it’s a way of keeping themselves honest about what they eat. For others, it’s motivation to try foods they haven’t tried before, simply because the food is particularly photogenic.
Flickr marketing director Tara Kirchner reports that the photo-sharing website has seen a tenfold increase in photos tagged as food in the past two years, according to the Times. Similar increases can be seen on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking sites.
Do you take pictures of your food? If so, send me a few shots and I'll compile them into a slideshow. Email jessicawebster@annarbor.com.
Jessica Webster oversees Food & Drink coverage for the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at jessicawebster@annarbor.com.
Comments
A2K
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 1 p.m.
Of course, you can always scan the wine barcode/label with your iphone and either save the bottle data, or order a case right then from Snooth;O)
Adam Jaskiewicz
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 10:53 a.m.
Of course wine counts. I generally do that to remember a particular wine so I can look for it later; much faster than trying to write down all the info on the label.
A2K
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 9:31 a.m.
Yes, and I'm convinced it's genetic...my family on my Mom's side has food pictures dating back to 1900 or so. Usually it's 1 picture of all the food/picnic/feast set out - and then a photo of everyone along the table. Perhaps it's a testimony to relatives coming here from the Old Country where they went through periods of starvation? A careful cataloging of their bountiful new home in the U.S. and family and friends enjoying a good meal.
Joel Goldberg
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 8:18 a.m.
Does wine count? It's one of the basic food groups...
Peggy Lampman
Tue, Apr 13, 2010 : 7:25 a.m.
The obsession to photograph food before eating has a name: Culinary Click Disorder. I've had it since childhood--symptoms developed after I received a "Polaroid Swinger" for my birthday. Like friends, food brings memories of happy times. Click on!
miradee4
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 10:53 p.m.
My friend was visiting from Hawaii and she photographed every meal! I didn't know other people did it. I've thought about doing it before, but felt to awkward. Plus, I'd want to use my dslr if I did, and like a previous poster said...that would be strange.
Lorrie Shaw
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 9:25 p.m.
I do it all of the time. Food is communal; I share it with others who can't be there.
Chris Goosman
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 6:46 p.m.
I've only photographed food at a restaurant a few times, but I take pictures of what I've made at home often. Only the successful dishes though!
citrus
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 6:45 p.m.
I avoid taking photos while dining out, but have an unusual number of pics of food that I made in plan, axonometric, elevation and cross section. I'm a food nerd I guess--maybe just a nerd, re-reading that last sentence. You would willingly (even if briefly) look at my food? That's better than finding somebody who will look at your wallet full of family photos! Maybe I will send some.
Chrysta Cherrie
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:50 p.m.
A far cry from Adam's shot at Frontera Grill, but here's a pic of my drink of choice, dirty chai, taken using the toy camera setting on my phone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrystacherrie/4516109162/
Adam Jaskiewicz
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:48 p.m.
I also take pictures of stuff that I'm cooking, in hopes of getting around to writing a blog post about it. I often don't.
Adam Jaskiewicz
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:26 p.m.
Sometimes. Pictures help me remember things, and when I see a picture of a meal that was especially memorable, it brings me back. It could be the food, it could be the people, the setting, whatever. That said, I'm discrete about it. I think it would be pretty rude to whip out a giant DSLR and snap half a dozen flash pictures of each course. Here's a link to a picture I took at Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill in Chicago a few months ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamjaskie/4515441865/in/set-72157623841644776/
Lokalisierung
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:17 p.m.
Maybe you'd have time if you used a camera and not your cell phone?
Jim Zamberlan
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:11 p.m.
Jessica I've had that farro dish at the Roadhouse, and once it lands in front of me I don't waste time shooting an iPhone photo.
Lokalisierung
Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:05 p.m.
Oh yeah. I'm always taking food pictures.