Food Photography for Thirty Six in Kingsbridge

In October I photographed a range of dishes for Thirty Six in Kingsbridge, alongside my work on the restaurant’s new website. The brief was to photograph the food, and the finished collection covers small plates, larger dishes for the table and desserts.

Thirty Six’s emphasis is on relaxed dining and sharing. That gave the photography a useful starting point: the pictures needed to show the individual dishes clearly, while also giving a sense of how the food could come together around a table.

The small-plate photographs include individual dishes as well as a group arranged with bread and olives. Seen from above, that group shows the different plates and serving dishes without one obscuring another. A lower view of the same arrangement brings the food closer and gives a different sense of the table.

I included both approaches in the shoot. They do different jobs: one explains the range, while the other draws attention to texture and the way the dishes sit together. The wooden boards, metal dishes and pale surface also provide variety without taking attention away from the food.

Some dishes are best understood from above; others need a lower viewpoint. In the more closely plated dishes, the side view shows the height of the food, its layers and the garnish. The overhead photographs make the arrangement across the plate easier to see.

The difference is particularly clear in the layered dishes and the larger white plates. I photographed them with enough room to show the presentation as a whole, then moved closer for details. Keeping both in the collection avoids asking one picture to explain everything, and lets the shape of each dish influence how it is shown.

The larger dishes bring a different scale to the set. A whole roast bird appears with its accompaniments; sliced steak is photographed on a board with chips, greens and sauces; a fish dish is presented on an oval metal platter. These photographs show how much of the presentation belongs beyond the central plate.

Wider compositions keep those accompaniments in the picture. Closer photographs bring out the cut surfaces, browned edges and smaller details.