Christopher Boffoli

Christopher Boffoli (born in 1969 in Worcester, Massachusetts)[1] is a fine art photographer, photojournalist,[2] independent filmmaker, and journalist[3][4] based in Seattle. He is best known for his "Big Appetites" photographs series, in which tiny, detailed human figures pose in real food environments. His photos have been published in dozens of countries around the world, and are displayed in galleries and private collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.[5]

Christopher Boffoli
Born1969
Worcester, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Occupationfine art photographer
Known for"Big Appetites" – miniatures on food

Career

While in college, Boffoli started his own commercial photography company in Charleston, South Carolina, and later worked for 12 years as a philanthropic fundraiser for universities such as Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics.[6][7] After recovering from a fall during a climbing expedition of Mount Rainier in which he suffered a broken leg and nerve and tendon damage, he decided that a career in academia was not as fulfilling as "doing creative things" and focused his energy on the arts.[8]

Inspired by childhood films and television shows – especially those showing tiny people in a normal-sized world – and by a 2002 London Chapman Brothers exhibit featuring dioramas of war scenes and Martin & Muñoz's work "Travelers", he began a photography series of tiny people in a food world.[9][7][10] Boffoli purchases the miniature figures from Europe, and occasionally re-paints or cuts them physically or alters them digitally.[7] He originally called these photos the "Disparity" series, later changing the name to "Big Appetites".

According to Boffoli, "You can't just stick a figure on a cupcake and call it a picture; you've got to think of the context of what a character is doing. For me, the caption is a way to reinforce the humor and the action in the photograph. People connect with the image first, but the caption gives it a snarky bump."[7] He also notes that the "context between character and the food is important to making the picture work."[11]

By 2011, Boffoli's photographs were featured in a variety of international media,[12] including Oprah.com,[13] the Toronto Star,[8] and the Huffington Post.[14] In 2012, his photographs were featured in many more publications worldwide,[12] including Business Insider,[15] Der Spiegel,[16] The Washington Post Lifestyle blog,[17] the Village Voice blog,[18] Bon Appétit's online blog,[19] and MSNBC's First Look program.[20] In 2012 Boffoli sued Twitter for copyright infringement and for ignoring Digital Millennium Copyright Act requests to take his photos down from Twitter servers.[21][22][23] After a suit was filed in federal court,[22] Twitter and Boffoli settled out of court.[24]

Boffoli was a James Beard Award finalist in 2012 in the humor category, for images which accompanied an article about his work in The Kitchn.[25][26] One of Boffoli's photos was the cover image of the Spring 2013 issue of Lucky Peach, the quarterly journal of food writing,[7] and his photographs were featured on The New York Times "What We're Reading" segment of its Dining & Wine section in June 2013.[27]

Boffoli is also an avid traveler and photojournalist.[2][28] His travels are well documented in photographs[2][28] and his work has been used by various news organizations.[2][4] His first book of photographs, Big Appetites: Tiny People in a World of Big Food, was released in September 2013 by Workman Publishing.[29][30]

References
  1. Christopher Boffoli: Bio Archived 2012-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Winston Wächter Fine Art.
  2. Christopher Boffoli – Journalism Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Boffoli, Christopher. "The Misunderstanding of Scott Carsberg". Seattle Magazine. June 2012.
  4. Boffoli, Christopher. "The road to a street-food debut: Damiana’s Blue Truck Special". WestSeattleblog.com. July 29, 2011.
  5. Christopher Boffoli: Portion Control Archived 2013-07-24 at the Wayback Machine. Winston Wächter Fine Art.
  6. Bio Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine – Official site
  7. "Photographer Christopher Boffoli Uses Art to Underscore America’s Obsession With Food". Grub Street. June 5, 2013.
  8. Dunning, Jenni. "Swimming in a Cup of Earl Grey: The Teeny Tiny Art That Went Viral". Toronto Star. June 9, 2011.
  9. Cohen, Nicole. "A Photographer's Mini Food Fascination". NPR. December 14, 2012.
  10. "It's a Small World". LUX Magazine. April 11, 2013.
  11. "Inside the World of Food Art" Archived 2013-06-10 at the Wayback Machine. The Chew. ABC. July 24, 2012.
  12. "Selected Bibliography". BigAppetites.net.
  13. Andriani, Lynn. "Playing with Your Food Was Never So Enlightening". Oprah.com. June 16, 2011.
  14. "Charming Photography Of Tiny People In Food Scenes". Huffington Post. May 25, 2011.
  15. Zeveloff, Julie. "14 Photos Of Matchstick People Climbing On Food". Business Insider. June 21, 2012.
  16. Lischka, Konrad. "Fotokunst: Rasenmäher auf Broccoli". Der Spiegel. December 1, 2012.
  17. Benwick, Bonnie S. "Landscapes of Pop-Tarts and Blackberries". The Washington Post. June 18, 2012.
  18. Rao, Tejal. "Tiny People, Big Food". Village Voice. June 21, 2012.
  19. Dean, Sam. "Look at These Photos of Tiny People in a World of Giant Food" Archived 2012-09-04 at the Wayback Machine. Bon Appétit. July 31, 2012.
  20. "Christopher Boffoli featured on NBC First Look". WinstonWachter.com. April 23, 2012.
  21. Christopher Boffoli v. Twitter, Inc. September 10, 2012.
  22. Brodkin, John. "Twitter Won’t Take Down "Giant Food" Photos, So Artist Sues". ArsTechnica.com. September 11, 2012.
  23. Masnick, Mike. "Twitter Sued For Failing To Take Down Images Following DMCA Notices". TechDirt.com. September 12, 2012.
  24. Brodkin, Jon. "Artist who sued Twitter over copyright declares victory—via settlement". ArsTechnica.com. November 2, 2012.
  25. "2012 JBF Award Nominees". James Beard Foundation. 2012.
  26. Prasertong, Anjali. "Tiny Food Worlds: An Interview with Christopher Boffoli". The Kitchn. November 23, 2011.
  27. Diner's Journal: "What We're Reading". The New York Times. June 10, 2013.
  28. Kurzweil-ICH. "Interview mit Fotograf, Filmemache und Multitalent Christopher Boffoli". LangweileDich.net. June 1, 2011.
  29. Boffoli, Christopher. Big Appetites: Tiny People in a World of Big Food. Workman Publishing Company, 2013. at Amazon.com
  30. Fall 2013: ''Big Appetites: Tiny People in a World of Big Food by Christopher Boffoli Archived 2013-09-05 at the Wayback Machine. Workman Publishing catalogue.
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