How did you become the phenomena that is DeadHungry?

Initially, I started working in restaurants, then I realised I wanted to do something more creative. I always had a passion for photography and wanted to combine the two together. My background is broad – I’ve gone from bartending to private chef-ing, food styling to menu development, image creation and more. Having tapped into so many different areas of the food industry, I realised that I not only had my own influences and aesthetic, but I also had the tools to execute the work myself.

Food photography has traditionally been a field that’s one of agonising perfection and fakery. How do you steer clear of these clichés?

I think, because I started in a kitchen and still cook a lot today, food photography is a product of my work, rather than the main attraction. I set up a studio in my kitchen and photograph things quite randomly, when something looks cool or interesting enough to be documented. Eventually, I was asked to create still-life imagery involving food, and I started looking more at fashion imagery and  mixed the two together. That’s where the whole dreamy, surreal-yet-quite-dynamic aesthetic really started.

How do you balance and find harmony between aesthetics and flavour? Does one overrule the other? 

It took me a long time to come to the conclusion that both are equally important to me – they just simply need to be approached from two different angles. When it comes to creating a dish, flavour comes first and the aesthetic is usually a product of how it naturally looks, whereas a project like still-life photography clearly relies more on aesthetic. And then some projects are the perfect balance of both, like designing and shooting a recipe that will be published, or creating a menu for a series of events. That’s when things get super-exciting.

Having worked in the worlds of fashion and food, how do you see these overlapping?

I think food and fashion are a lot more related than people think. You can choose to turn them into a necessity, or a fantasy. And both are a total reflection of your mood, as well as a vehicle to make you feel powerful (or weak).

I tend to behave exactly the same way with food and fashion. I will cook and wear something over and over again, for months, until I throw it out and never want to see or taste it anymore. When I’m done, I’m done.

In the last few years I think we are beginning to treat food as if it had the potential to become as influential as the fashion industry. Food has become a lifestyle, a dream. But at the end of the day, for me personally, there wouldn’t be any fashion, art or other creative links with the food world if it wasn’t for the fundamental concept of taste and the idea of cooking for other people. I absolutely love every aspect of what I do. I love to create visuals and do very arty things with my work, but what I love the most is to cook for someone sitting at my kitchen table, and hearing how they’ve never experienced or tasted something like this before. That’s the most rewarding feeling, that’s what makes me feel powerful.