By Cinatra Alvares
to people and build my portfolio. After a few gigs, I just knew that I wanted to go all in. Luckily for me, the start of my career in food photography coincided with the restaurant boom in Kuwait. Do you recall any particular turning point in your career? The changing point in this whole process was when I joined Instagram. A lot of my friends were on the platform and for me, it was just an extension of promoting the blog. I didn’t realise at the time how popular the medium is in Kuwait. Instagram is such a close community here. It was the right time for me to make the jump because it overlapped with a major shift towards food industry in Kuwait.
I also believe my decision to specialize in food and food styling have me an advantage over more generic photography. Have you had any formal training in photography? No, I have not had any formal training in photography. In fact, I started making pictures in my twenties. Today, everything is photo-centric but growing up, the cheap Kodak cameras we had would only be used if you went on a pilgrimage or holiday.
The first time I actually started taking photos was when I started blogging. My husband encouraged it and got me a camera. I used it for a couple of years and then upgraded to a DSLR camera. This is when I really understood photography. I was about 24 at the time. People often ask me if you need a degree to pursue photography. For me, once I had a camera, within a couple of years, I understood what I was doing. The past six years have been an exploration of that.
Has living in Kuwait influenced your style of photography in anyway?
When I was starting off, I really wanted to learn from someone but couldn’t find a mentor. From food props, food styling, equipment — everything was hard to get in Kuwait. In a way, all of these hurdles, influenced how I looked for things. If I didn’t have it easily available, I worked harder to get it.
Today, if someone decides to start a photography business, there is so much information; there are workshops you can attend and established photographers you can intern for. So, Kuwait did define the way I worked in that respect. How many clients have you done?
I am pretty sure it is over 200. I am really blessed. This is the perfect time to be doing what I do in Kuwait — the food is great, the restaurants are splendid, chefs are doing amazing, innovative things. I feel that the food industry is so evolved in Kuwait compared to others in the region so I feel very privileged to have worked with some great chefs. Food has been the driving force behind my career, photography comes next. I love cooking food, trying it, and I’m happy to have learnt so much about it over the last ten years. Where does your passion for food come from? We are a family of four siblings and I am the only foodie in my house. Growing up, everyone else was very picky. So my mom definitely loved to cook for me because she knew that I would relish it. I have always loved eating but that was it, I wasn’t interested in cooking at all when I was growing up.