Episode 180: Henry Hargreaves

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Henry Hargreaves left his native New Zealand for “the big OE” (overseas experience) and found an unexpected job opportunity in Bangkok. A man with a camera asked him to pose, and there launched his modeling career, working on campaigns for the likes of Prada. But while on photo shoots, he realized that he actually wanted to be behind the lens. He started shooting food for restaurants, but there was a playfulness missing. He worked as a bartender at Schiller’s to support his habit, photographing gingerbread and candy constructed art galleries; licorice windows for the Guggenheim, a sugary facade for the Louvre’s glass pyramid. Rainbow colored burgers with all the fixings. An alphabet spelled out in bacon. Cakes of iconic fast food dishes lit on fire. Presidents made of Jell-O. Henry stopped waiting for work to come to him, and put his conceptual projects into action himself. A series of last meals of death row inmates called “No Seconds” went viral. He exposed what’s on many musicians “Band Riders” (e.g. Lady Gaga asks for “a small plate of cheese on ice *no smelly, no sweaty). What’s next on the plate for Henry Hargreaves? This show has been sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons. Music by takstar. “With still life photos, I can see everything that I want in my head, and all I have to do is move objects around and play with light.” [11:30] “I never studied photography… I’m just kind of playing with food.” [17:50] — Henry Hargreaves on THE FOOD SEENSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.