Food. I love it.

Photography. I need it.

Wait, is that backwards? Meh, debatable.

I've noticed over the last year or so a rise in what I'm calling "hipster food photography". Hipster food photography has a very distinct style. I've included some examples below (thanks to Smitten Kitchen for these!)

There seem to be a few common threads here. One, the photos are typically shot from directly overhead. There are obviously some exceptions to this, but I find it really interesting. I was recently in a Barnes & Noble and picked up a cook book called "This Is A Cookbook" and, aside from being just that, almost every photo was taken from directly above the food. The shots were great and the food looked really yummy, but I can't help but ask why? It's such a clear choice the art director/photographer made.

Secondly there is a certain color styling to this type of photography. I feel like the edges are typically dark, or the subject is over something dark. Exposures are all still correct and they look great, but they're clearly getting you to focus on the the matter at hand: food.

Which brings me to my next point : The dark background is often something rustic looking. A lot of the shots I've seen are over old worn wood tables or dark/interesting counter tops. If it's meat you're looking at, don't be surprised if it's still in the butchers paper

So what's the deal with this? Is it because of the rise in organic and artisanal foods? Because of the rise of the hipster as we know it? I'm not bashing this type of photography, but merely pointing out that I find it's style really interesting. You don't really see this anywhere other than food, right? Hm.

So is it just to give our food a different look? Average folks tend to view their food from a 3/4 view, I'd say. Maybe it's just to get you to think differently about what you're looking at. Before this, food photography was pretty stale (pardon the pun), so I have to be honest and say that as weird as I find it, I think I kind of like it...