Melting chocolate gets a great emotive response from people. Image number: 15158762

Highly skilled, infinitely technical with the patience of a saint and creativity of Einstein, Food Photographers are to blame for the overwhelming hunger pangs that grip you when browsing through almost any magazine today.

Rob White is an expert in the field of food & drink photography and he is the first in a set of interviews we bring you to give you a rare glimpse at the life of a Foodie.

How long have you been shooting and what got you into food photography?

I’ve been shooting for about 15 years now. Originally I did an HND in Hotel, Catering & Institutional Management, but as this was before Jamie Oliver etc. made cooking cool I decided to re-train in something more creative. I did a City & Guilds Photography course,  then went to Sydney to get a job as an assistant. As luck, or fate would have it one of the first people that I saw was a food photographer who was prepared to give me a job. Up until that point I did not realise that there were photographers who specialized in food.

I ended up assisting a variety of food photographers over the next 7 years, and have never looked back. I do a wide variety of work from editorial, to design, to advertising. I have always maintained that a wide variety of clients help to keep giving you creative challenges.

Simple, organic, beautiful eggs. Image number: 15158692

Of all the images you have taken, which is your favourite and why?

Melting chocolate gets a great emotive response from people. I also think that I once got a big royalty cheque for this image? [Above shot: Image number: 15158762]

Simple, organic, beautiful eggs. We have a MASSIVE print of this on our kitchen wall at home, which I never get bored of looking at. [Left shot: Image number: 15158692]

Lamb’s lettuce. I went through a phase of doing these repeat patterns, which were quite time consuming, but real labour’s of love. Great natural colours and simple forms that work together to create a pattern. [Below shot: Image number: 19066276]

Do you tend to shoot food you like to eat? Do you have a favourite food to shoot?

A lot of the food that we are asked to shoot needs as much help as possible, ready meals etc. In my ideal world I like to try and shoot things as natural as possible, just relying on natural colours and textures. When it comes to food on plates, not many food photographers will admit it, but we are only as good as the food stylist. So much depends on how appetising they can make the food!

Lamb's lettuce. I went through a phase of doing these repeat patterns, which were quite time consuming, but real labour's of love. Image number: 19066276

Food and drink photography can be a bit of smoke and mirrors, with

elements that aren’t actually food, what is the strangest material you have used in a food or drink shoot?

Over the years things have changed quite dramatically and there is less and less use of smoke and mirrors. Most of this has been replaced by top quality photoshop work!

There is still a place for lots of blu-tack, foam board, cocktail sticks and super glue though.

The strangest material is probably lard and icing sugar, which when mixed with food colouring can produce very realistic ice-cream. Another strange material that brings out the child in everyone is dry-ice, which produces brilliant results when mixed with water, washing up liquid, and food colouring.

Successful shoots can still be fraught experiences, tell us about one where you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

With shooting for 15 years and assisting for 7 years there is very little that I have not seen. Hopefully with enough forward planning the number of fraught experiences can be minimised. I still laugh about the time that a deep fat fryer caught fire when I was an assistant, myself and the food stylist just looked at each other and burst out in hysterical laughter…There was also a day a couple of years ago, when we were just about to shoot something and there was a power cut to the whole block for about an hour and a half, but thankfully power was restored.

Rob White is available for assignment work, please email creative@photolibrary.com for Robs contact details.

Food and drink photographer Rob White, is based in Central London.

Rob has been photographing food and drink for over 15 years, during which time he has established a wide variety of design, advertising and editorial clients. His studio has been fully digital since 2002, this provides a fully comprehensive creative re-touching and proofing service.

During this time Rob has developed a distinctive approach to food photography, which is highlighted by clean, simple and uncluttered images. Food images for Rob are heavily influenced by the colours, forms and textures found in nature. He is equally conformable working in a very controlled brief or being asked to develop concepts and come up with creative solutions.

Food has always played a major part in both work and domestic life and indeed Rob originally trained as a Chef. He can still be relied upon to rustle up a feast! His early photographic years were spent in Sydney (Australia), where he worked as an assistant photographer to learn his trade. The rest of his food photography career has been spent in London.

When not taking photographs of food, Rob likes to play sport, watch sport, eat, drink, and spend time with his family and friends.

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