Food, Fabulous Food!

The work of food landscape photographer, Carl Warner, is so remarkable that reviewer, Debbie Glade, remembers being unable to tear herself away from a documentary about his work on TV some years ago.

Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be anything new in the world of ultra creative children’s books, along comes Carl Warner and A World of Food: Discover Magical Lands Made of Things You Can Eat ($17.95, Abrams Books, ages 4 and up). Trust me, you’ve never seen anything like this before, and every member of your family, young or old, will be mesmerized by the photos in this book.

Mr. Warner works with food stylists to painstakingly arrange food into ridiculously spectacular landscapes, categorized by color. He uses a triangular table-top in his studio to photograph his scenes in layers, from the front to the back and then puts it all together into one cohesive unit in post-production. One of his greatest challenges is working faster than the rate at which the food wilts.  It can take several days to get just one of these landscapes set up and photographed.

Inside this book, you’ll find a green forest, red mountains, a pink candy land, a yellow desert and much more. Every single object in each picture is made from edibles, and you will love studying the pictures to identify every food in each picture – from mushrooms, bacon bits and pasta to broccoli, chocolate and lobsters. If you find yourselves stumped, you can look in the back of the book at a key, revealing all the details. Carl’s expertise with lighting and photography really make his images extraordinary.

You and your children will be thoroughly entertained and inspired by the sheer creativity of this most imaginative book. Be warned, you will find yourself getting hungry as you read the book. And just in case you are wondering, yes, some of the food is unavoidably wasted due to spoiling, and the rest is happily eaten by those involved in the landscape process.