A food stylist is to thank for anyone who has ever felt her stomach rumble as she flipped through a magazine photograph of a steaming turkey or watched a movie character eat a hot fudge sundae. While the primary goal of food styling is to make foods look the way a client or director wants them to, food stylist jobs can take many different forms. Preparing food for still photography, preparing it for commercials, television, and film, and arranging it for cooking demonstrations and trade shows are all examples of food stylist jobs. Many food stylist jobs require a background in professional cooking as well as experience as a stylist’s assistant in addition to a creative eye.
Arranging foods for still photographs, which may then be incorporated into a cookbook or magazine spread, or used in advertisements, is one of the most common food stylist jobs. Making foods look appealing despite hot studio lights and advanced photography equipment that picks up minute flaws is perhaps the most difficult aspect of this job. Food stylists working on photo shoots use a variety of tricks to make a dish appear more photogenic in order to meet this challenge. For example, the stylist could paint grill marks on a piece of chicken breast or make fast-melting ice cream out of a mixture of shortening and confectioner’s sugar. Stylists working in the advertising industry must also adhere to laws in many countries requiring food advertisements to depict the actual product being advertised.
Some food stylists specialize in foods that are used in commercials, television shows, and movies. Stylists must contend with the fact that an actor may be required to eat the food in question, in addition to making foods look as delicious or distasteful as the director or client desires. As a result, filmed foods must frequently be entirely edible, which means that tricks used to enhance the attractiveness of a food in still photography may not be an option. In scenes that require multiple shots or takes, the stylist may also need to prepare a large number of identical-looking dishes to maintain continuity.
Preparing foods for live events such as trade shows and cooking demonstrations is perhaps the least talked about of the food stylist jobs. Food stylists who work in television and film face many of the same challenges as food stylists who work in television and film. Foods must not only be presented in an attractive manner, but they must also be edible. Food stylists for live events, unlike film stylists, do not have the luxury of multiple takes and must get their styling right the first time.
Those interested in working as a food stylist should be able to arrange objects in a pleasing or creative manner. A culinary school diploma, according to many working food stylists, is a must for aspiring stylists. Working as a stylist’s assistant, according to many of these professionals, is the best way to break into this field.