Jamie Oliver's Fifteen & Sabrina Ghayour — Where It All Started

The first one

This is the oldest work on this site and I want to be upfront about that. These images aren't representative of what I shoot now; the style has evolved, the technical quality has moved on, and I wouldn't put these forward as examples of current commercial work. But this event is part of the story of how I got here so it feels worth including.

It was a food event at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant in London; a personal project, not a paid brief. I was there working near Laura Field, a photographer and stylist whose work I admired and still do, although on this occasion Laura was mainly helping with food prep!

Sabrina Ghayour was the main event; the chef and author behind the Persiana cookbooks, one of the most recognisable names in food writing in the UK.

Why it matters

I was years away from food photography being my professional focus at this point.

But being in that room; watching how a professional kitchen operates at event scale, seeing how food looks when it's been thought about at every level from the cooking to the plating to the way it's presented to a room full of people who genuinely care about it; that stayed with me.

It's part of the reason I ended up here.

That and Kitchen Confidential at seventeen, but that's a different story. You can read the longer version on the about page →

Laura Field

Working near Laura Field on this was genuinely valuable. She's a photographer and stylist with a beautiful eye for food and I'd encourage anyone looking for styled food photography to go and look at her work. We do slightly different things; Laura's styling background gives her a particular approach to food that's distinct from mine. Worth knowing about.

Sabrina Ghayour

If you don't know Sabrina's work; the Persiana series is the place to start. Persian inspired cooking that's accessible, generous and genuinely delicious. The kind of food that photographs beautifully because it's been thought about at every stage.