Stephanie Gonot is the Los Angeles based photographer giving new meaning to the phrase “food porn.” Her images aren’t of your average glamourised, decadent dishes determined to become a substitute for your unspeakable desires. Instead her modernist juxtapositions of the edible with the most determinedly inedible, injected with pop colours, will have you rethink the way you approach food. “I love photographing food!” says Gonot, “It's great because I can just go to the grocery store for inspiration and props.” Despite the overwhelming evidence to support this, Gonot also has an impressive portfolio of work for clients ranging from Nasty Girl, RedMilk Magazine and The Portland Mercury with images ranging from street snaps and portraiture to paper formations. However, there’s no doubt that meticulously styled and out of context food shots are her calling card, which showcase her incredible curatorial, compositional and lighting skills. Born from the love of cinematography and a stint working in a gourmet ice cream sandwich truck, Gonot’s take on still life photography breathes new life into the form with a touch of irony.

 

“I was actually, for a very long time, mostly interested in cinema. I moved to LA after graduating from college because I got an internship at a commercial and music video production company. I had taken one photo course in college and casually took photos when I could, but was really mostly interested in moving pictures. Then at the production company I started looking at their beautiful photo book library, because one of my tasks there was to help our directors pull imagery for their proposals. I think it was around that time that I saw the movie “Control”, about Ian Curtis and Joy Division, directed by Dutch music photographer Anton Corbijn. I was trying to figure out how to get from intern at a production company to directing my own videos, and I thought this might be a good route, to first immerse myself in photography.” explains Gonot. 

In the end, Stephanie left LA to teach English in Madrid for a year and a half as well as assisting a Spanish photographer she had befriended on the internet. It was here she discovered the importance of composition, which is so meticulously prevalent in her images. “I learned from a week-long master course in Madrid with photographer Roger Ballen that everything in the frame has to have a purpose. It seems simple now, but at the time when he was critiquing our work he would ask us "why is that rock in the background? why is that power line there?" It was very helpful in making me more critical of my work and the work of others.”

Having studied painting in college, it’s clear Gonot’s honed skills in colour combinations and surrealist inclinations made roots before she even picked up a camera. “I think photography for me is a faster way to arrange colors and shapes. I got a little frustrated with how long painting can take. I also love to arrange images and put them in surprising orders, and photography is a great medium for that. What I find challenging in photography now is shooting outside of the studio. In the studio I can control the image to the best of my lighting abilities, but outside there is a fair amount of waiting for the right light or perfect moment.” 

 

As well as being a photographer, Gonot also works as an independent curator and artists representative. “I have a day job as a photographer/artists agent, so my time is limited which makes me picky about what I work on. I think that's why it's easier for me to work in the studio because I don't like to feel like I'm wasting my time walking around looking for a picture that I may not get. However, my job as an artists agent has helped me immensely in figuring out how the commercial photography world works... part of the reason why I love photography is the ability to arrange images into interesting sequences, so curation has kind of been a natural progression for me. I actually got more serious about curating before I felt like I could be a professional photographer.” Explains Gonot. “Until I started working as a rep (agent), I really didn't have any idea about how to work as a professional photographer, or what the steps were to becoming one. But curation seemed like something I could just DO. I didn't need to ask anyone for permission, I could do it cheap and work up to something bigger. Curating really came out of my image arranging on a blog I started in 2009 called “Please Excuse the Mess”, which I still add images to almost every day. I curated my first little print show in 2010 from regular contributors to the blog. Then my next few shows were projections, which were super super cheap for me to produce. Last year I was approached by the Month of Photography LA (MOPLA) to do a projection at the Standard Hotel in Hollywood as one of their festival events. That was a hit so I did an even bigger show for MOPLA this year called "Wish You Were Here" and featuring the work of 30 photographers from around the world on postcards and some larger prints. It was a lot of work but I got great feedback and am looking into what curatorial projects I'd like to work on next.” 

 

With so much talent for the medium after so short a time, there’s no telling what the future could hold for Gonot, though she has some ideas. “I'd love to make a book or zine this year. I'm realizing how important printed matter is (I'm an avid photo/art book collector). I also have a project in the works to curate a whole issue of a photography publication, hopefully to be out later in the year.” 

All images courtesy of Stephanie Gonot

Published in PITCH Zine Issue# 18, June 2013