So the Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine, is a six week evening and weekend course aimed at people who want to know more about how to make food look good, and who are interested in doing it as a career. Usually the course is run by Jennifer Joyce and Sarah Cook, but we were notified that Sarah Cook was unable to take the course this time, and so Katy Greenwood took over in her absence.
The first session was taken by Katy, a renowned home economist, food stylist and writer, who has worked for the likes of Jamie magazine, Olive, Waitrose Kitchen and Good food. Here's a link to her website: http://www.katygreenwood.moonfruit.com/#
We started by looking at some very retro 70's cookery magazines, and we chatted about how food styling has changed over the years. It used to be hugely influenced by America, and looked fake rather than real. Today it is more influenced by Australia and Donna Hay apparently, with the emphasis being on fresh food, that looks delicious and achievable.
Katy explained to us what a food stylist actually does, the different types of food styling (editorial, advertising, television and photography), and the key attributes for a food stylist. She also told us useful things like where she shops, and how to create an invoice for a job. We then did a fun practical task in pairs, where we got given a microwave meal, and we had to try and style the product to make it look like it did on the packet (not easy!).
All in all, the first session was great. I loved hearing Katy talk about her work and experiences, and I'm so envious of her amazing job! The session certainly made me think even more that this is what I'd like to do as a career, as it's the perfect outlet for a creative person like myself, with a love of food. My next step is to try and balance getting assisting work with my full-time job- not easy, but I'm certainly going to give it a try. I've been in contact with a few food stylists recently, so fingers crossed!
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