Visual Communications And The Food Porn Lab (Stop Taking Crappy Photos)

Monday, August 01, 2011



I just need to hear the words food and porn and you can count me in.

STOP TAKING CRAPPY PHOTOS: VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS’ “THE FOOD PORN LAB” SPONSORED BY STARRY KITCHEN, AUGUST 11 VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TEACHES PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS AND HOSTS PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2011 – Calling all foodies and amateur photographers! Visual Communications presents "The Food Porn Lab," a multi-dimensional community event that will beef up your photography skills and allow you to flex your shooting muscles. "The Food Porn Lab," set for Thursday, August 11, from 5 to 9 p.m., is a free 3-in-1 event celebrating the love of food that combines a community potluck, photography and food styling workshop taught by a Pulitzer prize-winning Los Angeles Times photojournalist, and photography competition sponsored by Starry Kitchen.

Food Porn is a term popularized by the blogosphere that is used to humorously describe food photography that is so tantalizing that it arouses. The “Food Porn Lab” website boasts the event "will give the foodie in you multiple foodgasms." With the economy suffering still from poor conditions, the free event is a welcomed summer breeze. "We wanted to make a completely free, no-strings-attached event that really gives back to the community," Visual Communications event programmer Alexis Kim said. "Not the type of event that entertains by numbing the audience into vegetables, but one that is completely pleasurable, and stimulates while building skills. Good food, free drinks, cool people, plus a chance to learn skills from an expert in the field without paying a cent. What could be better?"

According to a recent study from the Consumer Electronics Association, 77% of American households now own at least one digital camera, with 40% posting online at sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Photobucket, and Snapfish (http://www.ce.org). Americans are taking photos more than ever before, but is quality following the climbing quantity?

“It’s ridiculous how many images are out there,” Los Angeles Times Photo Editor Kenneth Kwok said. “Our society is so saturated. Digital technology has made it a lot easier. But along with the freedom and flexibility, there’s a lot of bad stuff out there. Look at how many people call themselves a photographer. You used to be able to differentiate a professional from an amateur from just one look at their camera. Now the line of distinction is so blurred.”

Pulitzer prize-winning Los Angeles Times photojournalist Kirk McKoy, along with Los Angeles Times Photo Editor Kenneth Kwok, will teach the free photography workshops. After the workshop, attendees can participate in “The Ultimate Food Porn Challenge, sponsored by Starry Kitchen.” Starry Kitchen is a Pan-Asian eatery in Downtown L.A. that gained fame for its glamorous origins as an illegal underground restaurant run from owner’s home. Participants will compete by photographing ten dishes from Starry Kitchen's rotating menu.

Starry Kitchen owners Thi and Nguyen Tran as well as workshop instructors Kirk McKoy and Kenneth Kwok will judge the photos. The winners will receive the following prizes: display of the winning photo at Starry Kitchen’s restaurant and on its website and menu; two All-Access Festival Passes for the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival; a $100 Starry Kitchen gift card; and a $100 gift card to fusion gourmet restaurant The Lazy Ox in Little Tokyo.

The one-hour photography workshop will be broken up into two, 30-minute crash course tutorials, allowing the attendees to cycle through the hour with the chance to take the following tutorials: "Food Styling Basics," "Photography: Beginners Basics," and "Photography: Advanced Techniques." Participants will put their new skills to the test and style and shoot the dishes donated by Starry Kitchen. The contest will include categories such as “Best Color,” “Best Competition,” “Best Overall,” and “Most Mouth-Watering.”

The event will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. at Visual Communications in Little Tokyo, 120 Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles 90012. Parking is available at City Lot #7 (entrance adjacent to David Henry Hwang Theatre; enter at Judge John Aiso St.). To register for the competition, send an email to alexis@vconline.org with the following information: full name, e-mail, phone number, camera model and type (DSLR or Point & Shoot). There is no admissions fee.

Established in 1970, Visual Communications is the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts organization and is dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayals of Asian Pacific American peoples, communities and heritage through the media arts. Visual Communication promotes intercultural understanding through the creation, presentation, preservation and support of media works by and about Asian Pacific Americans. Every spring, it presents the prestigious Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Visual Communications is funded in part by the Aratani Foundation, California Community Foundation, Getty Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Japan Foundation, Japanese American community Services (JACS), Sony, Takahashi Foundation, National Film Preservation Fund APCF, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts, Academy Foundation, Union Bank, National Endowment for the Arts Recovery Act Grant, VC Stakeholders and corporate and community supporters.

For more information contact Visual Communications (alexis@vconline.org or (213) 680-4462x31) or visit www.vconline.org. You may also visit “THE FOOD PORN LAB” Facebook Event Page by searching for “THE FOOD PORN LAB” or follow Visual Communications on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vconline.