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TOBY MCFARLAN POND, APRIL BLOOMFIELD & PETER CHO On the immediate surface, the butchering of a 300lb. pig inside a venue that functions as a photography resource for the New York City community may seem incongruous. However, dig a little deeper into the Levi’s® Workshops, the heart of which centers on the idea of crossdisciplinary collaboration, and it all makes perfect sense. When the opportunity to host an in-studio butchering by superstar chef April Bloomfield and Peter Cho, her comrade in arms and trotters, it seemed only fitting to have the results captured by still-life photographer Toby McFarlan Pond. It was a night dedicated to sustainable food, craftsmanship, photography and one timeless question: “Where does bacon come from?”
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While the majority of attendees marveled over the most important ingredient in a BLT, the “Chump End,” the penultimate area of the pig’s loins, was touted as one of April’s favorites.
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MAKING IT DELICIOUS
TOBY McFARLAN POND
APRIL BLOOMFIELD & PETER CHO
Toby’s still-life photographs—normally of the fashion variety—are featured regularly in many prominent publications, including the New York Times, W Magazine and Esquire’s Big Black Book. His recent work includes Nike, Alexander Wang, with past clients such as Prada, Cartier, Hermes, Adidas, Bulgari, and Absolut.
April Bloomfield, co-owner and executive chef of beswarmed NYC hotspots The Spotted Pig and The Breslin, has a reputation for unpretentious, consistently amazing food with a commitment to sustainability and resourcefulness. Peter Cho, The Breslin’s chef de cuisine, earned his stripes working his way up from fry cook.
PHOTO CREDITS John Barton William Ross
LINKED IN workshops.levi.com www.thebreslin.com
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FROM FARM TO STUDIO
Both the art of cooking and photography require similar personal investments in time and persistence. No one said that it’s easy to master your craft. For Toby McFarlan Pond, still-life photography is not only a craft, but also an important means of personal expression. It’s “how I view the world,” as he put it at the Chop Shop event. As some may have blanched at Peter Cho calmly sawing through gristle and bone, April Bloomfield’s handling and milky descriptors made the butchering the farthest thing from gruesome. Sprinkle in Toby’s visions of marbled meats and you couldn’t help but find yourself incredibly awed and equally hungry.
> SEE THE CHOP SHOP VIDEO
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Though perhaps the most popular cut amongst consumers, the tenderloin is one of the least flavorful (and therefore April’s least favorite) part of the pig.
THE METHOD Cutting lengthwise, April butterflied the tenderloin, creating a flat almost book-like slab, which was rolled and deftly tied up by Peter before transporting it back to the Breslin for what we imagined was a tasty dinner, despite its lack of favoritism.
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THE DELCIOUSNESS RATIO
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To put it simply, in the case of pigs, the bigger, the better. The larger ratio of fat to meat there is, the better tasting will be your pig.
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FATTY GOODNESS
We gained some valuable insight that despite the inexorable move, in recent years, toward the marketing and distribution of so-called “lean meat,” the fact is that the best cuts of pork usually come from older pigs, which actually have bigger fat deposits. Meat from these elder pigs is usually more flavorful, and certainly provided a richer patina of layered insides for Toby to photograph.
SUSTAINABLE FOOD
OLD FIELD FARM
Having trained for a time under the reknowned chef and food pioneer Alice Waters (another Levis® Workshop Collaborator), Bloomfield is a staunch advocate of sustainable foods. She makes it a point of knowing where her ingredients come from, which was the impetus behind butchering her own meats to begin with. This translated into less waste and better quality food.
Old Field Farm, where our guest of honor hailed, explores “the interaction and mutual benefit of art and agricultural practices.” 160 acres of forest, wild bee pastures, indigenous and cultivated mushrooms, habitat for goats, chickens, pigs, ducks, vegetable and fruit gardens, the goal of the farm is to strike a sustainable, healthy balance between the farm’s many species and inhabitants. www.artandagriculture.org
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A CUT OF PERFECTION
Inspired by the 18th century painters like Chardin and Goya, Toby went with a simple lighting setup creating rich compositions of light and dark that focused on the star of the evening and brought out the best angles, inside and out.
EQUIPMENT Hasselblad 503 with p45+ Back with 120mm Lens Broncolor Pulso Bi Tube Broncolor Pulso Head with p70 Reflectors Broncolor Grafit A4-3200ws Pack C+ Stand (40”) with Long Arms Matthews 12’ x 12’ 1/4 Silk 12’ Crossbar 12’ x 12’ Blackout Matthews Flag (medium) 24” x 36” Wind Up Stands for 12’ Crossbar Distro/Lunch Box- 5 20 AMP Gitzo Tripod Gitzo Pan/Tilt Head Foamcore 4 x 8 V-Flat Showcard, Shiny Silver Cardelini Clamp Sandbags (15lbs) Foba Omega Camera Stand
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GOODNESS Whether it’s a chop, a trotterFATTY or bacon it’s always important to understand how it gets from the farm to the table.
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THE END