An Eye for Food: Christopher McIntosh
The economic downturn doesn’t only affect front-of-house and back-of-house workers.
Food photographer Chris McIntosh, resident photographer for PRU, has seen his work life drastically change during the past year.
Chris has been a professional food photographer since 2012 after earning his BFA in fine art photography. He started collaborating with private chefs for shoots plus helping with prep work. Chris’ work not only captures striking food images -- blanketed in that familiar soft restaurant glow many of us miss so much -- but also the beauty behind the scenes where the magic is made.
But he loves bringing his artistic eye to a chef’s creative visions, he said.
“I'm collaborating with people who are creating art with their food,” he said. “Getting to see and help them express their appreciation for the ingredients, meats, vegetables — just helping them display their voice and creative expression — that really keeps me going.”
Chris lost a ton of work due to the pandemic, with restaurants, university events, and conferences all essentially shut down. Still, he was grateful to be able to stay home and stay safe while relying on unemployment income.
Even at home, Chris’ innovative eye was ready for action: he worked on shooting more backdrops and developed a cohesive lighting style to use for his shoots. His image quality has improved greatly, he said, plus he’s able to work faster. He launched a new subscription service, a more sustainable model to keep the business going, he said.
Some work is slowly returning as restaurants reopen, but it looks different, he said. Many restaurants are having interns do creative work, rather than hiring outside creatives. He’s excited to collaborate with chefs again.
“I don't love being completely on my own; I love someone else having direction or input,” he said.
When his eye is away from the camera (at least officially), his favorite restaurant is RutchadaThai, which opened in Roslindale in November.
“I want to do more to support restaurants down here,” he said.
Follow Chris on Instagram and check out his portfolio for more beautiful photos.
All images courtesy of Chris McIntosh.