When we talk about food photography, it's easy to confine it to what we're cooking, or where we're dining. But each year, the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards comes around and reminds us that photographing food isn't only about Instagram snaps at bustling restaurants or vibrant pages of glossy magazines.
The awards celebrate food in all its forms: food that crosses national borders; that shines a light on the food traditions and cultural exports of people across the globe. This year's winning shots comprise everything from a drool-inducing photo of a bowl of mac and cheese to the feeding of people undertaking a Hindu prayer ritual and the collection of vital food supplies by refugees at a camp in Algeria. Put simply, it's a competition that brings together striking photography of pretty much every aspect of food's impact on the world.
The winning and shortlisted images were chosen from more than 8,400 entries, from some of the best and brightest photographers working today. See below for the winning images in each category.
The winning shots
Sally Ann Stone – 'Swiss Chard Forest'
Food in the Field
The eye-catching stems of rainbow chard take on a new meaning when shot from this perspective, which photographer Sally Ann Stone found when she set out to capture the incredible colours and structures of the swiss chard crop in her vegetable garden.
Felicia Frank – 'Muuuh'
15-17 Years
Felicia Frank took this highly texture photograph while on a hike in the Alps. She was feeding some hungry cows with grass with one hand and taking pictures with the other hand in the hope of getting a nice picture
Lily-Mae Franklin – 'Japanese Flower Tea'
11-14 Years
This photograph is of Japanese tea, where the flowers bloom in the hot water and lend it their delicate floral flavours.
Carla Smend – 'Fruit of the Bloom'
10 Years and Under
Budding photographer Carla Smend shot this simple yet effective photo of her five a day on a chopping board using an iPhone.
Robin Stewart – 'Crouch End'
Startisans Food in the Street
This category was sponsored by Startisans, a organisation that works to celebrate and showcase incredible street food around the world. The picture was taken at North London's Crouch End Indo-American festival in summer 2016
Leonardo Salomao – 'Breaktime'
Food for the Family
Many families work together in the rice fields in Nepal. During their break time, they all share the food in a huge circle in the middle of the fields.
Richard Perry – 'An Apple A Day'
Pink Lady An Apple A Day
Richard Perry took this photograph to represent the classic saying, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Using a Pink Lady apple, it's a fitting subject for the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards.
Matthew Thomas – 'Pheasants at Sunset'
Bring Home The Harvest
The picture shows pheasants that have been hung after a successful day's shooting, and are being transported back to the House.
Tom Parker – 'Hunters & Kill'
Politics of Food
Wealthy Italian hunters line up for a portrait in front of their bagged birds, after having participated in a shoot that would have cost up to £50,000 to take part in.
Emma Brown – 'Collecting Egg Rations'
World Food Programme Food for Life
Emma Brown caught this moment in Algeria, where, every two weeks, in the refugee camps near Tindouf, women collect egg rations distributed by the Sahrawi Red Crescent. The majority of Sahrawis are refugees today in one of the harshest desert environments in the world, their homeland of Western Sahara is the last colony in Africa and the site of a protracted territorial dispute.
Laura Cook – 'Waiting For Stew'
Food Sn-apping (in aid of Action Against Hunger)
Seven year old Diana and her little sister Nina wait impatiently for their fish stew to cool down in Tole, Cameroon, in a shot taken by Laura Cook for the Food Sn-apping category that is in aid of Action Against Hunger, the charity committed to ending world hunger.
Shoeb Faruquee – 'Food for God'
Food for Celebration
The overall winner of the 2017 awards was Shoeb Faruquee, in the Food for Celebration category sponsored by Champagne Taittinger, for his shot 'Food for God'. It shows a cook in Faruquee’s native Bangladesh stirring a pot destined for the fasting practitioners of a Hindu prayer ritual.
Kyriacos Arkatites – 'Oua, Look At This One!'
Marks & Spencer Food Awards
Arkatites caught this moment while on holiday with his family in Cyprus, in the Paphos harbour, where there are several restaurants along the walkway. They stopped to admire the fresh seafood in the freezers, and the children kept spotting new things they hadn't seen before.
Hein Van Tonder – 'Caramel!'
Food Bloggers (supported by Aspire)
This simple but mouthwatering shot captures the moment that golden-hued caramel sauce is poured over a baked chocolate pudding.
Jean Cazals – 'Mac & Cheese'
InterContinental London Park Lane Food at the Table
This gooey, cheesy shot – guaranteed to make you salivate – was snapped in a restaurant by Jean Cazals. The stringiness of the cheese is so perfect it evokes the taste of the mac and cheese without you even eating it.
Azalea Dalton – 'Villefranche Market'
Partridges Food For Sale
This candy-coloured scene is a bird's-eye view of market stalls in Villefranche, a picturesque town in south-west France. Photographer Azalea Dalton achieved the aerial viewpoint by taking the shot from the top of a church tower overlooking the town's main square.
Darren Eastwood-Hickson – 'Salad Plate'
The Marks & Spencer Food Portraiture
The Marks & Spencer Food Portraiture award went to Darren Eastwood-Hickson for this colourful lifestyle shot 'Salad Plate', featuring vibrant salad leaves on a beautifully textured table.
Wesley Dombrecht – 'Smoked Mackerel'
Cream of the Crop
Belgian photographer Wesley Dombrecht won the Cream of the Crop category for this shot of mackerel, taken in his studio.
Francesca Brambilla and Serena Serrani – 'The Grandmother'
Philip Harben Award for Food in Action
Francesca Brambilla and Serena Serrani's shot of an Italian nonna at the stove – named 'The Grandmother' – won the Philip Harben Award for Food in Action.
Jonathan Gregson – 'Vegetables'
Production Paradise Food Off the Press
British photographer Jonathan Gregson took home the Production Paradise Food Off the Press gong for this shot, named simply 'Vegetables', snapped for the January 2017 cover of Waitrose Food magazine.
Patrick Desgraupes – 'The Rosé Wine Tank'
Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year
The winner of the Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year award was this arresting shot by Patrick Desgraupes, entitled 'The Rosé Wine Tank'. Grapes, macerating with their skins, look as bright as a coloured paint.
For more information: pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com
