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Photos Courtesy of Carrie Kolehouse
and Amway Hotel Collection
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Whether you find yourself on the side of spectrum that cheers
or jeers food postings on Facebook, food psychologists are
saying the growing trend is not completely pretentious and
self-serving, but it’s also not especially inventive or selfsacrificing.
Food photo haters often point to the more conceited
motivations, mentally captioning photos, “Look at how
good I’m being, eating this organic spinach salad with
ingredients just picked yesterday by a farmer whose hand
I shook,” or “Look what an amazing cook I am and how
overall amazing my life must be if I am eating blue cheese
encrusted Filet Mignon on a Tuesday night.”
But some food psychologists say that a desire to be helpful
and informative is what drives many food photo posts. After
all, you can describe a meal or restaurant as colorfully as
you want when a friend asks for a recommendation, but a
picture does tell a thousand words.
Another altruistic motivator for posting food photos is
appreciating the craft of the restaurant’s kitchen, and
giving credit where it’s due. If a restaurant gives you
something glorious and aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t the
chef deserve a little recognition?
There’s a chance he or she may not see it that way.
Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that some
Manhattan restaurants banned food photography – going
so far as requiring diners to keep their phones put away
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throughout their dining experience. The chefs claimed that
snapping photos interrupted the flow of the meal, and was
too distracting to other diners.
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In our fair city – where dishes from even the most highly
skilled and esteemed chefs are served with a side of
Midwestern friendliness – most chefs and restaurateurs
are appreciative of an online shout-out.
Some will even encourage it.
Cygnus 27, home of Chef and Mind-Body Medicine Research
Scientist Werner Absenger, recently held a summer food
photo contest, inviting its guests to photograph their
entrees and post on the restaurant’s Facebook page for
the chance to win a hotel stay and dining gift card.
“Eating is an inherently social activity,” Absenger said.
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