Keep An Eye Out For Good Food Photography - It's Rare!
Normally editors like photos of food to look appetizing, flavorful and delicious. What all this means is that good food photography is a real talent and I for one admire those who do it well. A lot of food preparation, lighting technique and set design goes into great food photography but that doesn't mean that you can't keep one eye out for opportunities to shoot food yourself.
The local fare in Cambodia may be a bit different than you are used to back home, but give the local cuisine a chance. Be more adventuresome than a couple I overheard the other day while I was in Phnom Penh……… they were playing it a bit too safe……..
"Oh look how thin the people are here remarked an overweight woman to her equally heavy husband as they peered at passers by through the window of the new Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Phnom Phen, Cambodia. "I hadn't noticed," remarked the man as he lit into another drumstick.
In the average U.S. household, 15 % of the budget is spent on food. That percentage changes to over 50% for many people in Cambodia." While this percentage may seem high, contrasted to thirty years ago when Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime nearly starved the country out of existence, today's hungry Cambodians are much better off. Although the World Food Program estimates that 39% of Cambodia's population is malnourished, more than half of the country's 15 million people now enjoy a fairly high measure of food security. About 59% of Cambodia's children are now growing up with enough to eat.
Since 80% of Cambodians have no electricity, hence no refrigeration, their edible food needs to be fresh. Some people carry food on top of their heads while others sit in baskets filled with fruit. Food is sold on streets and sidewalks, live or dead, raw or cooked. Everything from pigs, ducks, chickens, frogs, beef and insects is on the menu. The local variety of red-hot chili peppers can set one on fire for 20 minutes.
Moving In
While Burger World and Lucky Burger have existed for over 5 years as a local answer to fast food outlets, international food franchises are now setting their sights on Cambodia's tourist areas as witnessed by the opening of the new KFC. Not even Colonel Sanders himself would have been surprised to see that new Kentucky Fried Chicken store. Likewise, packaged food high in saturated fat is slowly emerging from the western world and cookies and potato chips now compete for shelf space with dried fish at small neighborhood stores.
Most mid-sized towns sport a convenience store or two and in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's largest city, full-blown western style supermarkets are slowly muscling in. Because no dairies exist in the country, imported items containing high cholesterol such as milk and cheese can only be found at these new grocery outlets. Although these "superstores" cater primarily to comparatively highly paid foreigners that comprise a "parallel economy" working in the country, locals, including Buddhist monks, can be seen cruising the aisles pushing shopping carts.
As an agrarian state, few Cambodians sit at desks all week or consume massive amounts of beer while watching sporting events on weekends. Their ecological footprint is small and their meals consist of fare low on the food chain, including insects and snails. As with most third world countries, Cambodians looking for a quick snack have yet to experience the joy of screaming into metal boxes, "extra fries please!", before rolling up to the takeout window in their cars. When they begin to, they may order fish burgers for fish provides Khmers with 75% of their daily dietary protein.
So when you get to Cambodia, keep an eye out for photography opportunities related to food, and eat some too! Just don't be a pig about it.
Oh, and one more thing:
"While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs." Robert Zoellick, President, The World Bank
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