Gourmet snapper gets first show
Bob Noto eats every meal he photographs
10 December, 14:55
(ANSA) - Castelfranco Veneto, December 10 -
Gourmet masterpieces by some of the world's greatest chefs are
the subject of an unusual photo exhibition that has opened in
northern Italy.Around 40 works by Bob Noto, one of Italy's best-known food photographers, are on show at the Antiruggine gallery in Castelfranco Veneto for Noto's first-ever stand-alone exhibition.
Noto, 50, has been snapping mouth-watering creations in restaurants for international food magazines for the past 27 years, relying on a digital camera and a tiny pocket-sized tripod.
He claims to always take his shot within two and a half minutes of a plate arriving at his table, ''before the dish gets cold''.
Noto later manipulates his images on a computer to remove all traces of the plates the food has been served on, leaving it suspended against a white background.
He eats every meal he photographs, but admits that some of the masterchefs' visually stunning creations sometimes leave him disappointed.
''There's no connection between a good dish and a beautiful dish - aesthetics and taste don't always coincide, '' he says.
Taken out of context, the subjects of some of Noto's shots are barely recognisable as food, such as his photo of an almost unidentifiable bright purple roasted aubergine with yellow yoghurt emulsion, created by Josean Martinez Alija at Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum restaurant.
The exhibition includes many snaps of course by chefs on the cutting edge of molecular gastronomy, a style of food preparation that makes use of chemical processes to produce unusual flavours and textures.
Highlights include large dimension shots of dishes by Ferran Adria, head chef at the El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Spain, which has been voted top restaurant in the world five times by Restaurant Magazine.
Adria is famous for using liquid nitrogen to make sorbets, nitrous oxide to create meat and vegetable 'foams', and signature dishes such as Kellogg's paella (Rice Krispies, shrimp heads and vanilla-flavoured mashed potatoes).
Another work on display here shows an explosion of flower petals and asparagus tips served up by another Spanish chef, Martin Berasategui, known for adding individual stalks of cress and other garnishes with a pair of tweezers to dishes at his San Sebastian restaurant.
The exhibition also features snaps of portions dished up by Italian chef Carlo Cracco, at whose restaurant in Milan diners can sample foie gras creme brulee, and by American chef Grant Achatz, who serves up chocolate and bacon as well as burnt sugar and coffee 'hay' at his Alinea venue in Chicago.
Explaining why photographing food has held his fascination for so long, Noto says that in a restaurant ''you can watch a different performance every evening''.
''It's like going to the theatre with the advantage that you don't need to worry about finding a pizzeria that's still open after the show''.
The exhibition is open to the public at weekends and on appointment during the week at the Antiruggine gallery, which is privately run by Italian musician Mario Brunello. Bob Noto: Dish Portraits runs at Antiruggine, Castelfranco Veneto until January 30.
Photo: roasted aubergine with yellow yoghurt emulsion, created by Josean Martinez Alija
