22 « May « 2008 « Gastro Narrative

Sweeeeet

Posted in Bakers, Local Producers, Photography, Sweets by Roger on 22 May, 2008

Call me cynical, but I didn’t think that there was much room left in today’s mechanized world for handmade cakes. I certainly didn’t think that the cakes you buy by the half-dozen or dozen at the supermarket could be handmade. Let alone by proper bakers. Surely, you just tip in the ingredients at one end of an industrial smokestack and the cakes come out at the other end, ready packed?

No.

At least, not over at Old Mill Confectionery here in Cork, where I was shooting earlier this week.

Yes, they use machines, but most of what they do is still done by hand. Turns out that machines just can’t do what humans can. Something to do with opposable thumbs.

The assignment brief was to capture images that convey the human involvement in the production process. Specifically, the agency that hired me was keen to include hands in the photographs. The pictures are for packaging and promotional use, and the client wanted B/W photographs. Nice.

At the end of the morning, the two owners of the company sent me on my way with a large box of cream cakes. A thoughtful gesture that made me look like a hero when I got back to the office in time for the mid-afternoon teabreak. As long as the staff are happy.

Here’s a quick sequence of shots of cakes being iced.