Big Appetites

If these images by Christopher Boffoli don’t make you smile, you probably should go pop a Prozac. His work is simple yet meticulous, lighthearted yet deeply satisfying.

About the Series:

The genesis of my Big Appetites series of fine art photographs was in a lot of the media I was exposed to as a child.  There were so many films and television shows that exploited both the dramatic and comedy potential of a juxtaposition of different scales:  tiny people in a normal-sized world.  It is a surprisingly common cultural theme going back all the way to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels in the 18th century and perhaps earlier.

I think it is especially resonant with children because as a child you live in an adult world that is out of scale with your body and proportions.  And you constantly exercise your imagination around a world of toys that are further out of scale.  As a child I was an avid collector of Matchbox cars, a model railroader and a builder of models (cars, ships and airplanes).  I was fascinated, as many children and adults are, with tiny, meticulously detailed things.

When I began shooting some of the very earliest images in this series, around 2003, food was a conscious choice as one of the components as it can be very beautiful – in terms of texture and color – especially when shot with available light and macro lenses.  Combining what is essentially food and toys makes the work instantly accessible to virtually everyone.  Regardless of language, culture and social status, almost everyone can identify with toys from their childhood.  And whether you eat with a fork, chopsticks or your hands, everyone understands food.  Sitting down to a meal makes us feel most human.

Via Colossal:

The miniature people inhabiting the fine art photographs of Christopher Boffoli live in a world of enormous food. A place where towering ice cream cones are turned into camping tents, where a field of peppercorns becomes a soccer match, and a savage crawfish threatens a group of men. The photos are as absurd as they are delightful. Based in Seattle, Boffoli says his work comments not only on our fascination with miniature things, but on “the American enthusiasm for excess, especially in the realm of food.” To view more of his photos you can simply scroll through his website, and to see them in person you can check out his Edible Worlds exhibition at Winston Wächter Fine Art in New York through August 24th. All images courtesy the artist.