New York-based photographer and storyteller Brendan Miller is unveiling his newest photo series, Chef not Cook: The Process to Plate, capturing the stories of eight prominent African American chefs leading the charge in the industry.
“It’s very focused on the contemporary movement,” says the photojournalist. “But it’s historically framed in thinking about how, for generations, there was all this talent that shaped not only American culinary trajectory and history but really just all over the world.”
This powerful series, nominated this year for a James Beard Award in photography, depicts Black culinary artists thriving in their element, underscoring the significant impact of Black chefs on the food world and the legacy of those who came before them.
Marriage of Passions
“This project is sort of a marriage of my two passions of food and photography,” says the New York native on creating the photo series.
Miller’s passion for photography began at an early age documenting vacations with his family. “I’ve been taking pictures my entire life. My parents had like a small Fuji film camera that I remember we used to take with us on trips,” he shares.
“As I began to travel as I got older, I really fell in love with taking pictures of sights and sounds, but I never really framed it with this thought of like the professional nature of photography.”
It was not until 2020 that he began taking his craft more seriously and envisioning a possible career in it. “During the pandemic, a lot of people had a lot of time to sit around. And I was looking at all my catalogs and pictures and I said, ‘Wow, I’m really passionate about this.’ And I started taking classes.”
He continues, “As I was kind of going into that journey, I really started to think more about the stories behind the people I was photographing,” he explains. “When I started sharing that intentionally with people, that’s really when I started calling myself a photographer.”
By Nicholas Carr
