FOOD AS LANDSCAPES & LESSONS

Tricks and treats delight us with photographer Christopher Boffoli’s genius images, as food masquerades as magical landscapes.

Food looms larger in our lives now more than ever before it seems. Whether it is because we have an abundance or a dearth, we are caring about it more, devoting more time to thinking about it. We watching shows about it on The Food Network and Cooking Channel, we are cooking and growing and crafting and fine dining where we have plenty. And we are seeing more people suffering from scarcity.

Boffoli plays with the magnitude of food by contrasting tiny toy human figures with real food that seems gargantuan in comparison.

Like foodie versions of scenes from Gulliver's Travels, each image shows Lilliputian figures playing, conquering, and struggling with normal sized real life.

The images are quite clever, quirky, and beautiful. They make us smile even as they ask us to question our relationships with this thing we all need every single day of our lives: food.

If only real cow pies were made of chocolate chips! That thought quickly sparked in our minds when we first saw Boffoli’s photo of a tiny toy farmer shoveling a “pasture” full of chocolate chips. We feel childish joy bubble up as we see his “Pear Crane Operators.”

Boffoli’s images come paired with funny captions. For example, his image of a tiny female doll wading through waves of blue Jell-O bears the caption, “In her continuing search for a husband, Gladys decided it was best to put herself in situations where she needed to be rescued.”

Boffoli is a fine art, commercial and editorial photographer who began making visual art at an early age. He taught himself to use the camera he received as a birthday gift.

Inspired by childhood films and television shows, showing tiny people in a normal-sized world and museum dioramas, Boffoli began a photography series of tiny people in a food world, called “Big Appetites.” The project was also intended to be about the excess of America.

He buys the miniature toys from Europe. Sometimes he repaints them or alters them to better fit his scenes.

Except for the toy figures, every element in Boffoli’s images is edible -- no trick fake food is ever used. And, he mostly shoots with available natural light.

Sometimes, he sketches out his ideas in advance. But usually, he is inspired by what he finds fresh at local farmers’ markets.

Today, Boffoli’s diverse body can be found in galleries and private collections around the world, as well as in a variety of commercial publications. He also writes about food for magazines in Seattle.

Check out Boffoli’s book, “Big Appetites: Tiny People in a World of Big Food,” which contains more than 100 brilliant scenes you’ll never see at your own kitchen table.

Read more about Beautiful Masquerades in  The Most Beautiful Costume Game,  Costume Envy: Princess Lockerooo, These Sweet Halloween Treats Last a Lifetime, The Art of Becoming A Fantasy and Beautiful Animal Masquerades.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

All images are courtesy of Christopher Boffoli and are used with permission.

1. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Macaron Team. Right on cue, Philippe stepped up to take all of the credit.” “Big Appetites” series.
2. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Pear Crane Operators.” “Big Appetites” series.
3. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Octopus Survey Team. It was a discovery that compelled them to shuffle their deck of phobias.” “Big Appetites” series.  
4. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Linguine car wash. The deluxe carbonara option was canceled after too many customers lost mirrors and antennas.” “Big Appetites” series.
5. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Zesty Mower. It was so like Patty, right idea, wrong execution.” “Big Appetites” series.
6. Image: by Christopher Boffoli.  “Asparagus Painters. Years of okra apprenticeship were required before moving on to advanced work.” “Big Appetites” series.  
7. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Unpleasant Conversations. William's friends were fairly uninterested in discussing his medical issues.” “Big Appetites” series.  
8. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Sticker removers. It wasn’t really a four-man job. But if they didn’t bill the hours, they’d risk losing their budget.”
9. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Swiss Chard Couple. Grace and Kat bonded over their mutual love of high places.” “Big Appetites” series.  
10. Image: by BN App - Download now!
11. Image: by Christopher Boffoli. “Artichoke Bicyclists.  Sam and Ava thought that exposing their kids to exotic foods early would make them less picky eaters.” “Big Appetites” series.