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Anyone who was ever yelled at for playing with their food as a child will enjoy this. The modern-day relationship to food is an often complicated and always curious one (you’ve said it, Michael Pollan). You know what else is curious? Photographing tiny toy bikers on a banana. So take that, Mom.
Photographer Christopher Boffoli adds an awesomely entertaining perspective to the long-ongoing food discussion. His photo series, titled Disparity, creates a whimsical world of flipped proportions: where sunbathers lounge on a fleshy pickle slice, a tiny couple dances on the cusp of a clamshell, and building developers examine the cracked surface of a peanut butter cup. It’s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, done new wave.
Sites like Food Gawker and Tastespotting have made food fetishes an everyday indulgence. Back when I worked in an office, I would spend the last five minutes before my lunch break scrolling through pics of glistening roasted squash on Food Porn Daily (examining the possible decline of the American worker can be for another day).
The food photographed for Boffoli’s series is far from mouth-watering, but that’s not the point. His scenario’s are playful and often hilarious – a woman “lawn”mowing over an orange peel, another mowing buds on a broccoli stem – and function as comedic commentary on our mechanical handling of the stuff we eat. Despite the humorous take, Boffoli’s photos focus in on some serious themes, the most obvious one, an obsession with super-sizing. Sort of makes that 1989 Disney movie look groundbreaking, right?
Check out the entire series on Boffoli’s website as today’s intake of food for thought. Just be sure to watch for fallen fries!
