This year’s Observer Food Awards saw Danny Wallace win the Young Chef of the Year award. Danny works in Gary Usher’s restaurant in Manchester and the two of them ended up on the cover of the awards issue.
The idea of the shoot was to have Gary and Danny clap some flour together to create this celebratory puff of smoke. As I travelled up on the train my mind started exploring the idea of flour and what more we could do with it. Such a playful prop to have at my disposal. I thought that flour could be a symbol of time, like an hourglass. If we had Danny stay in one place then Gary could sift flower over him, one bag at a time. The time reference could also serve as some indication to their relationship as apprentice and mentor. I therefore stopped by a Tesco near by the Manchester studio and bought up all their flour, both self raising and plain. I contacted Danny and Gary and asked them to bring a sieve.
When Danny and Gary turned up, they’d brought a sieve that looked more like a Peaky Blinders cap than a sieve.
I did a series of shots of the two of them on their own and together, sieve and no sieve, before I prepared for the mess. Gary loved the idea of poring KGs of flour over Danny and Danny didn’t seem to object either.
A lot of laughs later Danny was covered with a layer of flour on his head and down his neck and pants. His feet had disappeared, almost like someone caught in a snow storm and decided not to move until it was over.
Shot for the Observer Food Monthly
