Coq au Vin
This pair of birds is a before-and-after like the venison rolls, and from the same source. Same moody lighting, same approach to framing and composition, same startling juxtaposition. I am not really sure what is going on in the background of this one. Is that white plumage trying to escape the fate of being slaughtered, plucked, and braised in Burgundy wine? And should the creature be comforted by the thought that in death it will return to the nest before being consumed by its hungry killers?
One commenter said of the venison shot that it is "provocatively somber." I gather she would say the same of this one, and yet I find both of them to be darkly comic as well. If pictures could talk, I think these would chuckle heartily and proclaim that it's good to be at the top of the food chain.
The New Complete Book of Cookery, (New York: Weathervane Books, 1970), 146. Photo by Ben Ericksson.
foodphotographyofyesteryear
posted by mzn at 8:34 AM
4 Comments:
I like all the movement. The dish looks like it might tip and the bird looks like it is in motion . . . Very tense.
It all looks very Pollan-esque and know-where-your-food-comes-from to me. The chicken was surely raised, slaughtered and cooked by the same person. I like the retro food photography theme, even though most of the food doesn't look appetizing to me, except this Coq au Vin.
I'm considering blogging about '60s/'70s-era Soviet recipe cards that I found at my parents'. The recipes are for foods of the Soviet republics/ethnic groups--Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Tatars, etc. The photography is terrible, but some of the food is appealing.
Yulinka, you totally should. If this review of American cooklife is fascinating, then I'm certain your information would be even moreso.
I don't think this picture is somber in the same way. I might not even have guessed this was a chicken.
Yulinka, I hope very much to see those soviet recipe cards on your blog. Davay!
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