Can I Take Your Picture?
"Are you a blogger too? Give me your camera. I’ll take a really blurry, close-up picture of the grapefruit in my salad. When do you think people are going to start making fun of bloggers?" —Danny Meyer [via Dan D.]
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8 Comments:
haha what a great quote
Food blogging is just like any other phenomenon, you just have to sort through so many ones you hate in order to actually find a couple that you like that you actually want to check on a daily basis.
Joseph Bayot at 11:58PM on 02/14/08
That is a funny quote, but I would have thought Danny Meyer would be worrying about hospitality tricks and how to fold a napkin instead of commenting on people who pay good money to enjoy his food, and sometimes take a picture of it.
This whole business asking people to make fun of individuals who do what makes them happy... I dunno, when can we start making fun of restaurant owners?
foodinmouth at 1:15AM on 02/15/08
Personally, I make fun of most everyone. And, Meyer is right about most of the restaurant food "photography" posted on blogs; its awful.
ccbweb at 1:56AM on 02/15/08
That comment sounded like one of those off-the-cuff remarks that are often made in public. It did not sound like it had real serious intent.
Danny Meyer doesn't have to "worry about hospitality tricks and how to fold a napkin" however. What he does involves a high level of professional competency, it is not tricks but hard detailed work and knowledge of what he's doing, and napkin folding 101 likely was something he passed a long time ago.
Like it or not, there's a deep hint of navel-gazing lurking about when people wander around taking photographs of their food on an ongoing basis, particularly when it is their hobby not their profession.
At least if the food is being managed by Danny Meyer it's likely to be a pretty navel, and one worthy of comment or of sharing photos of. That is, if they are not blurry and strangely colored so as to evoke distaste rather than hunger.
Karen Resta at 7:18AM on 02/15/08
@Karen Resta,
lemme try to get this straight. you are basically telling me, if you excel at what you do like a Danny Meyer, then it is worthy of other people's input as long as the input is of high quality?
foodinmouth at 9:45AM on 02/15/08
Guilty...but I can't help taking a picture of my big Pork chop at the little owl. It was the best ever!
Veron at 10:20AM on 02/15/08
I meant Pork Chop .
Veron at 10:27AM on 02/15/08
@Karen Resta,
lemme try to get this straight. you are basically telling me, if you excel at what you do like a Danny Meyer, then it is worthy of other people's input as long as the input is of high quality?
foodinmouth at 9:45AM on 02/15/08
That's not something I would say in those exact terms, foodinmouth, but I guess that yes, that conveys what I mean.
Excellence is something to strive for, it seems to me - and just as when I was a chef there is no way I'd wish to put out something "half-baked" (and I expect the people at the table would be displeased if I did) and just as when I was an executive chef there was no way I would allow any cook in my kitchen to put something out that was less than excellent if there was any way I could prevent it into the public's eye (or mouth) (or certainly there would be consequences for everybody involved) in the blogosphere I prefer to see what I consider to be a fairly high level of knowledge displayed.
That seems to make sense to me, personally. Though I understand that on the web, everyone is an expert and everyone has equal opportunity to show their work. It still doesn't mean that anyone with a camera who admires their own plates of food has to be admired by me. :) Sorry about that.
Why am I thinking of American Idol at this moment?
Fabulous, the tryouts.
Karen Resta at 10:50AM on 02/15/08