DAY 169

ARTISTIC ODDITIES

Foodscapes

MOUNTAINS OF MEAT

That landscape looks good enough to eat. No, seriously, is that tree made out of bacon? Are those mountains made of salami? Is that a forest of broccoli? At first glance, Carl Warner’s works appear to be normal enough, but when you get closer to the photos, you see that the scenes are actually composed entirely of food.

Photo courtesy of Carl Warner (www.carlwarner.com).

From cold cuts to fruits and berries, Warner painstakingly re-creates entire landscapes with ordinary pieces of food. When finished, he photographs the product in several layers and merges them into one breathtakingly delicious-looking “foodscape.”

Each foodscape takes days to create. With an initial idea in his head, Warner says he can often be found staring at food in the grocery store. When the idea is finalized, he spends most of his time planning out the finished product. Once he starts assembling the foodscape, he has to work under time constraints to prevent the food from wilting or spoiling. On average, assembly of the final product takes between two to three days, after which the photography begins.

When I first saw the photos, I was sure they were created on a computer—they looked too good to be real. I was awed when I learned that he makes them all by hand. —GRG