Aarthy Rao recalls sifting through two kilograms of star anise to pick the perfect ones for a photo. Another memory is of a nutmeg pile that collapsed 13 times before she got it right.
Getting that perfect picture is not easy, says the food stylist. She has more than 50 plates of varying sizes, shapes and colours and as many spoons and other cutlery.
Her car is filled with props — wooden boards, discarded chair-backs besides other things. “It’s not as glamorous a life as it looks on Instagram,” she says wryly. “It is hard work. You create a photograph that, to the viewer, represents accessibility; that they can have it. You have to do whatever it takes to convey that. One school of thought is that you focus on the food — on the plate and what is on it; the other is about styling it and making it look pretty.”
Food styling was a leap of faith for the MBA graduate who was on the French Toast’s marketing team and styling the restaurant’s food photographs, “I would say 90% of my food knowledge comes from Shruti Nayar, the executive chef of French Toast,” she says.
Ishka Farms was her first client and Aarthy is grateful to Fiona Arakal for that chance. “We shot Ishka’s bottled capers and moringa, showing their uses.”
The rest of the work came via friends and acquaintances. One such assignment was for Amal Neerad’s Varathan. An assistant director on the film was her friend and, when they needed a food stylist, Aarthy was called. It was only a couple of scenes — of Priya baking on her wedding anniversary.
She says the best part was getting her name on the credits, which she missed when she first saw the film. “I went back, watched the film again for the credits; just to see my name. There was no need for that but the fact that Amalettan did it means a lot.”
Food is unpredictable, prone to changes and seldom visually perfect, which makes it tough to work with. But Aarthy says she prefers to deal with the imperfections rather than use artificial substitutes.
“I don’t want it to be perfect but I tweak it so that it is visually appealing.” So when she styles strawberries and cream, she’d rather heat the cream for the right consistency than use glue for the image.
Occasionally, however, she does need to bend her own rules, like when she made fake ice cream; “Around 24 litres. Because ice cream melts, and photographing it takes time. So I created the substitute.”
Although she doesn’t create the ‘perfect’ food for photographs, she does shop for symmetry and visual appeal. “People stare at supermarkets when I ‘study’ vegetables for size, colour and shape.” Quick fixes include cold water and oil. A floppy stalk of coriander perks up when sprayed with cold water while “just pour oil and food instantly looks better.”
Besides product shoots, Aarthy works on short videos used as promotion material. “Each medium has a different protocol and food is styled accordingly. Print is for a larger number of people, while the website photographs and films are different. The best is Instagram. You can get as creative as you want on social media,” says Aarthy.
The key, when working with food, is improvising, she says. “Getting a mound of biriyani was tough; the shape wouldn’t stay. So I put tissue paper at the base of the dish and put the rice on top of it. I am uncomfortable doing that to food but I tell myself nobody is eating it. Also I am careful about quantities to prevent wastage.”