My sister just took her four teenage children on a long-awaited, magnificent trip to Italy. Every day or so, she would text me a few photos. I got excited every time I saw her name pop up in my alerts.
I would click through images of Ancient Roman ruins, incredible artwork in churches, and clear, blue Roman skies. I saw photos of her smiling with her children as they posed like nearby statues. I rooted for them to splurge on a gondola ride—and rejoiced when the photos showed me that they had. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Italy along with them, all without having to leave my home.
A week or so into the trip, though, my husband asked me where their food pictures were.
What were they eating? We knew they had to be taking pictures of pastas and pizzas, soups and salads. They just weren’t sending them to us, right? I texted to ask.
But, no. With the exception of an occasional shot of people posing with their gelato, my sister and her children apparently weren’t photographing their food. I was surprised.
If you scroll through my photos, you’ll see lots of food photos—homemade soups and pies, platefuls in restaurants, and children eating their way through a tray of Oreos in front of the TV. I love how images of food give a glimpse into the ordinary but extraordinary aspects of our lives. But not everyone takes a picture of every meal.
Because Uncle John had requested food photos, his sister-in-law and her children obligingly started taking pictures of the culinary delights of Italy to send to us. But I could tell the travelers weren’t bringing the same enthusiasm to the shots as they did to the domes and ceilings and frescoes and columns they were encountering on their travels. The waters of Venice clearly inspired them more than the sauces of a restaurant in Florence.
Some people, it turns out, don’t feel the need to photograph their food before eating it—even if they’re in Italy. And that’s fine.
As Dorothy Day said, “Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul.”
I started wondering why people photograph their food and came across 7 Completely Valid Reasons to Take Pictures of Your Food and The Psychology of Foodstagramming. I love the idea that food brings people together even when it’s only shared virtually. But clearly that doesn’t speak to everyone.
For a moment, I wondered whether I photograph food too often. Then I remembered the time I paused to take a picture of a salad in a restaurant and noticed a bug walking across the leafy greens.
Yup. Taking food photos saves lives. Unless, of course, you’re a bug.
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