FOOD FANATIC
Photographer and food scientist Nathan Myhrvold’s Modernist Cuisine Gallery (modernistcuisinegallery.com) opened in May at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, placing food front, center and massive for your, ahem, consumption. Which begged two questions: Where do you find inspiration for your striking images? “When I decided about a decade ago to create the cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, I saw an exciting opportunity to do something new in food photography—to portray food in new and unexpected ways that simultaneously draw readers in and illustrate the science at work in cooking. My team and I looked into the idea of selling prints, and it became clear that the only way forward would be to open our own gallery.” Who collects 10-foot-tall images of breadcrumb landscapes and chard? “I think that my photography speaks to people for whom the specific subject in the photo and the broader topic of food are important parts of their lives. I can say that people definitely like food—all of our homes include a place to cook and eat. And they clearly also like photos of food—witness Instagram. There has never been a better time to love food. Art that you have in your home or office should be something that delights and engages you on a daily basis. I hope that my photographs allow people to express how food makes them feel and who they are.”