Photo&Food: Giorgio Cravero (part I)

2017-06-09 After Andy Warhol’s sunshine yellow version which graced the cover of The Velvet Underground’s first album, his is surely the most famous. Unsurprisingly, when Giorgio Cravero travels around the world, everyone calls him “The Banana One”. The reason? His photo of a bunch of bananas dripping with colour, which won him the prestigious Hasselblad Masters Prize in 2016.
It’s a significant achievement. In an industry like photography where satisfaction is thin on the ground – blame it on increasingly irrational times and shrinking budgets – it shows the Turin-born photographer is heading in the right direction.
Born in 1975, Giorgio Cravero graduated in Visual Communication from the Istituto Europeo del Design (European Design Institute) in Milan and began working as an architectural and still-life photographer. Moving between traditional photography and new digital technologies, he combines different techniques to express his perception of spaces and objects and uses light to depict forms and materials.
After two years as a partner, in 2012 he took over Turin’s Studio Blu, one of the oldest and most prestigious still life studios around. Having renamed it Studio Blu 2.0 , he put together a team who could oversee every stage in the creative process, from conception and production to post-production.
How do you see your job, Giorgio?
“Nowadays there are more photographers than there are Christians… But my job was born out of passion, and it’s passion that continues to drive me. Not to mention craftsmanship, which I’m a great believer in: you can study as much as you like, but it’s essential to practice every day because you can’t afford to lose your training. In my job I always strive for quality, and that applies to the people I work with as well as my equipment. I believe there’s a piece of me not only in my projects on display in art galleries, but also in the photos which appear on our clients’ websites. Without wishing to boast, I think people appreciate the artistic element of my work as well as the technical aspect.”
In recent years you’ve also been working in the Food&Beverage sector.
“Food photography is a branch of still life photography, so the transition was natural. I love eating well, and over the past few years I’ve realized that behind food lies the art of cooking as well as the simple act of eating. I started researching the topic as much as I could, investigating how both cuisine and food photography have changed throughout history and how they go through different periods and trends, just like fashion. Then I started experimenting… When I joined Studio Blu in 2010, one of our main clients was Ferrero, so I was able to put what I’d learned into practice straight away. Studio Blu 2.0 now has two photographic studios, the largest of which has its own kitchen.”
(to be continued)

Mariagrazia Villa

Photography: Giorgio Cravero