Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth is one of Britain’s best chefs.  Her restaurant “Core by Clare Smyth” in Notting Hill has three Michelin Stars and is one of London’s most sought after restaurants.  She has been named the World’s Best Female Chef by the World’s 50 Best Restaurant, been the Good Food Guide’s ‘National Chef of the Year’, She got a perfect score by the Good Food Guide. She’s won the Chef Award and she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire - to mention a few of her achievements.  Clare is basically “Da Bomb!”

This shoot was a cover shoot for Observer Food Monthly Magazine.  A real pleasure working with her and her restaurant.  

Shot for Observer Food Monthly Magazine

Ravneet Gill - Diwali

First time I worked with Rav was for a mothers-day shoot.  I was commissioned to photograph her, her mum and her grandma in one shot.  When they turned up I did not only meet very nice, fun and friendly Rav, but her mum and grandma were great characters too.  Such a great trio!  I have to admit that there was a slight language barrier between Rav’s grandma and me - but somehow the humour and a sense of understanding each other was definitely there. 

So - it was with great pleasure that I received a commission to photograph the trio again.  This time to coincide with Rav’s new book release - as well as the celebration of light day, Diwali.  Rav had also brought some friends over to help enhance the feeling of festivity. 

In order to give an impression of us celebrating Diwali - I wanted to create a dark and atmospheric room with candles and food decoration.  I was sent props to use and the shoot was to take place in Rav’s place. I was given 2 hours to setup and shoot, but Rav was happy to extend the time a little when I got there.  2 hours was tight, but especially as I got there to see a 3 meter diameter glass dome above the room we were shooting in, and it was a bright sunny day.  One thing is to expose the daylight away with flash, but I also needed to bring some atmosphere out with the candles.  I took what blankets I had, ripped off the paper backdrop and got ready to cover as much of the glass dome as I could.  However - the glass dome was 6 meters above me so the only way to get to it was to climb through a tiny window, in the top end of Rav’s bedroom window, to get to the roof.  I am already not a very flexible with my almost 2 meter height, seeing me climb through that window was a sight to behold.  (I never knew I could get my knee behind my ears - a move I had to perfect to get out.). I covered what I could of the window and got on with setting up the grand Diwali celebration table with the props I had.  We managed to create a setting that had some of the intended atmosphere.  Rav’s friends and family were not only lovely to work with, but managed to look and act relaxed and festive.

Rav comes across as a nice and friendly person when on TV. Having met Rav on several occasions now, I can truly vouch for her being the friendly, fun, and a sparkly, kind person.  Having met her friends and especially her family, also gives a depth to understanding who Rav is, and she is exactly as you would hope from seeing her on TV.  

I hope to work with Rav again, and if her mum and grandma is there too then that’s a-ok with me.  Maybe next time we’ll get them all posing as Charlie’s Angels.  I can especially see Rav’s grandma Biji getting into that…

Shot for Waitrose Food Magazine

Asma Khan

The first time I met Asma was when I sat down for delicious lunch at Sabrina Ghayour’s place, after having completed a shoot with Sabrina. I remember clearly that Sabrina was boasting about how good a chef Asma was, and told me of her pop up restaurant in Soho.  A few years later, Asma has not only got her own restaurant in the middle of Covent Garden, a restaurant that is packed full every day, but she is also the first British chef to have appeared on the popular Netflix TV series  ‘Chef’s Table’.  Not a bad undertaking at all!

I have since worked with Asma a couple of times, but this shoot for ‘Cook’, Corriere della Sera’s food magazine, was the best one.  We had two days with Asma, eating at her restaurant, being introduced to her flat where her dinner club dining experiences all started, but best of all - experiencing Asma!  Asma is warm, genuine and very funny.  Her restaurant is made up of a team of chefs that she is personally connected to, all women whom lived in London but missed a community and a connection with their home countries.  Asma gave them a community in the kitchen and they together created a cultural experience through their food.  

My biggest regret with the shoot was that I had a massive cold, so I could not get the full experience of the food.  So it’s now a case of queuing up in a line with celebrities such as Keira Knightley, David Schwimmer and more to get the full experience again.  Unless - (“Asma - are you reading this??? - nudge, nudge…”)

Shot for Cook Magazine

Secret recipe - Jack Monroe and Monica Galetti

It’s always impressive to see chefs at work.  Mixing up their magic potions and presenting it as if it should be in some art gallery.  But every chef has some secret, go-to ingredient.  Maybe its something to help the dish look good, or it could be to give the dishes that signature taste.  This feature for the Observer Food Monthly revealed what Monica Galletti and Jack Monroe had up their sleeves.  Monica’s go-to secret is charcoal.  She uses it to introduce a shock factor.  The look of the dishes differs and it gives a slight smoky flavour.  

Jack Monroe however, uses Sage and Onion crumbs to give that extra flavour to many of her homemade dishes.  

Not only did I try to show the chefs and their ingredients in this shoot, but I needed to portray the feeling of secrecy.  So I took the idea of using charcoal literally for Monica and I brought in the secret agent suitcase and a good few handfuls of Sage for Jack.  

Shot for Observer Food Magazine

Nigella Lawson

This is the second time I have worked with Nigella Lawson.  She’s known as a domestic goddess, she’s the queen of home cooking, and she’s the empress of deserts - (the latter is a title I have made up).  She’s known, respected and appeals to the young and the old and the rich and the poor alike.  She is the image of Britain that is adored in the UK and loved abroad.  So, when Nigella turns up at a shoot she knows what to do, and she know’s she’s in charge.  The rest of us fall in line.  If she were to be Prime Minister, then no-one in the UK or abroad would dare to question.  Her titles as ‘queen’ and ‘goddess’ are not titles that are just thrown out there without reason.  They are titles that she’s earned but through hard work, determination and total control.  If a cake was a currency, then it would have a picture of Nigella on it!

Shot for Waitrose Food 

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson has released a new book. Her book is about simple but good home cooking and is called At My Table. This shoot for Waitrose Food was aimed at toning it down and keeping it real. So real that we even had the luxury of including a tray of small home grown red apples. (The type of apples I spent many of my younger years scrumping. - Sorry old neighbours…) A linen table cloth and a casually dressed Nigella - all spell out home cooking as far as I am concerned. Nigella is the queen of cook books and this new book will be like having the queen herself in your own home, in a kitchen sharing all her home-cooking secrets, (without the corgis).

Shot for Waitrose Food Magazine