Tools of the Trade is a short publication showing the true face of the profession of chef. The idea to shoot them this way, was a reaction to the over - saturation of magazine images currently on the market. In my opinion they present untrue portrait. Being a chef involves getting burnt or having cuts. The scars, blue plasters, dirty nails tell a different story to the ones found in cookery books. I understand why these sorts of photos aren’t included in the latest tome about baking. They are ugly, but I love them though, it’s their honesty that endears me towards them. It allows me to trust them. There are many stories about fake food photography, but it’s not just the food that is faked, it’s often the lifestyle portraits as well. With this series I aimed (and I hope succeeded) in being completly truthful. This are simply an images of people who works with food, and of course the tools of their trade.
age: 32 nationality: Polish workplace: restaurant Prezzo occupancy: head chef serious injury: deep cut by chopper into his right hand pointer finger during meat preparation, the result is a shorter finger by a few centimeters.
Tom Zawadzki ‘Zawada’
age: 34 nationality: English workplace: Prezzo occupancy: sous chef serious injury: burns on palms of both hands during pasta preparation by hot pans.
Jerry Robertson
age: 28 nationality: Lithuanian workplace: Prezzo occupancy: station chef serious injury: burns from boiling water on both hands during cooking vegetables.
Vincent Jankevicius
age: 27 nationality: Polish workplace: Prezzo occupancy: station chef serious injury: broken little and ring fingers caused by ice room door, during convalescence.
Mathew Klimek ‘Klimas’
age: 26 nationality: Polish workplace: Prezzo occupancy: station chef serious injury: burns from pizza furnance on both forearms.
Sebastian Sowa
age: 24 nationality: Polish workplace: Fryderyk Chopin occupancy: station chef serious injury: so far nothing serious worth mention.
Adam Wozniak ‘Woziu’
age: 29 nationality: Polish workplace: Fryderyk Chopin occupancy: head chef serious injury: many burns on hands and arms during work in kitchen.
Paul Ratajczak ‘Tofic’
age: 26 nationality: Hungarian workplace: Pizza Express occupancy: station chef serious injury: deep cut in right hand pointer finger while chopping tomatoes, while distracted by a waiter.
Marton Buday
age: 35 nationality: Bulgarian workplace: Pizza Express occupancy: station chef serious injury: hand burns from a pizza oven and pizza pans.
Dimitar Hubenov
age: 30 nationality: Polish workplace: Pizza Express occupancy: station chef serious injury: many cuts in fingers during work in kitchen.
Bartek Lomsza
Magdalena Nowak - Self Directed Study - Level 3 - UWE 2012