Oct

Excuse Me, Where’s the Fly in My Soup?

by Janine Boylan on October 7, 2013

A fly in soup, illustrating new views on eating insects as food

This fly crafted from different foods is perfectly edible.
The actual insect may be harder for many to swallow.
© Thinkstock

New Views About Insects as Food

When I was a child, Brussels sprouts were disgusting. I knew this quite well because so many of the book and TV characters I loved told me so. No way was I going to eat Brussels sprouts!

Then a respected friend, who happened to be a Brussels sprouts supporter, convinced me to try the tiny cabbages. I did, and, it turns out, Brussels sprouts are actually pretty good.

My view of Brussels sprouts changed when someone I knew and respected convinced me to try them.

Is it possible for us to apply this same thinking to something we’d rather squash under our shoe than eat?

I’m talking about bugs. As food.

fried worms, showing new views on eating insects as food

Can a beautiful presentation make fried worms taste delicious?
© Thinkstock

A Cookbook Recommendation

David George Gordon, author of The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, is a strong supporter of entomophagy, or eating bugs.

He thinks that you shouldn’t just throw an insect in food for the sake of adding an insect, though. His opinion is that recipes should use bugs to add a specific taste or texture. He also happens to prefer his insects whole and visible rather than ground and hidden.

So you can see the bugs. And their six legs. And often many eyes.

grasshoppers, showing new views on eating insects as food

Apparently, fried grasshoppers are crunchy and taste
mostly like the oil or seasoning that covers them.
© Thinkstock

A World-Wide Recommendation

The United Nations released a publication supporting bug-eating. It says:

Bugs are more environmentally efficient to raise than other meat sources.
Insects are packed with protein.
They occur naturally throughout the world.
Many cultures already eat them.
They can be eaten whole, thus requiring minimal processing.

These are logical reasons. I’m listening.

A Restaurant Recommendation

Monica Martinez has an edible-insect food cart, Don Bugito, in San Francisco.

Her web site explains that she offers “rather unusual but tasty creative foods inspired by Mexican pre-Hispanic and contemporary cuisine with locally sourced ingredients. We believe in the future of edible insects as a smart answer to the existing demand for and shortage of high-protein foods on the planet.”

At first, Martinez herself was not so certain about the idea of eating bugs. Then she observed that the insects actually are not dirt-consuming filth. They just eat grains and carrots. After that, the idea of eating them didn’t seem so bad to her.

She goes on to explain that the process of, uh, preparing the insects is quite simple compared to another live protein source: “I would freeze [the insects] so they’d die. I have some in my fridge right now. It’s easy and simple compared to having a cow in my backyard. I’d have to sacrifice the cow, kill the cow, blood all over, organs all over. What am I going to do with that?”

Martinez serves insect tacos and ice cream, as well as chocolate covered salted crickets.

Chocolate?

OK, I’m almost convinced.

An Award-Winning Recommendation

A group of McGill University students recently accepted the 2013 Hult Prize for their innovative idea to produce year-round crops of micro-livestock (a new name—a new view?).

Noting that 2.5 billion people worldwide consume insects, the team visited different insect farms in Thailand, Mexico, and Kenya to observe the current growing and harvesting techniques. They shared their ideas for creating easier-to-harvest and more efficient and affordable crops to the enthusiastic farmers. They even started working with the Kenyan farmers to grow crickets.

While the students had thought that crickets were the ultimate solution world-wide, through research, they learned it is better to stay local. So grasshoppers are the proposed crop in Mexico, while palm weevils flourish in Ghana and caterpillars in Botswana.

Oh, I see! It sounds like there is a solid future in this idea.

fried silk worms, illustrating new views on eating insects as food

People disagree on how fried silkworms taste.
Some say they have very little taste. Others say they taste like shrimp.
One person described the taste as “coconut cream.”
© Thinkstock

Bug Appétit!

Eating insects seems like a very logical idea. Starting with ground-up insects that aren’t staring back at me may be easiest. In time, I might progress to whole insects.

And with a new view on eating insects as food, I may soon be asking my waiter, “Excuse me, where is the fly in my soup?”

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Janine Boylan Comments

Discoveries

Oct

Aha Moment Maker: Colors To Go, Please

by Your friends at OIC on October 5, 2013

LONDON, 1841—Frustrated by the inability to keep his oil paints from drying out, American portrait artist John Goff Rand created the paint tube. Made from tin with a resealable screw cap, Rand’s paint storage solution preserved the paints and prevented leakage.

It would also dramatically alter the direction of art:

Your friends at OIC Comments

Your Own Aha Moments

Oct

The Power of Exceptional Photographs

by Meredith Mullins on October 3, 2013

Competition is fierce in the world of international photo contests.
© krystalkenney.com

Capturing the Moment

Winning a photo competition is a challenge.

Why do we enter? Because we want to have our work seen and appreciated by a well-respected jury . . . and by a wider audience.

Prizes, opportunity for exhibition, and getting representation from the right gallery or museum are all important for success as an artist.

As with the lottery, we always enter with hope, but the reality is that the winners’ circle is a very exclusive club.

woman studying exceptional photographs capturing the moment and showing us how to win a photo competition (© www.krystalkenney.com)

Anne Biroleau, Curator of Photography for the Bibliothèque Nationale, makes her final jury selections.
© krystalkenney.com

Recognizing Talent

The International Fine Art Photography Competition (Grand Prix de la Découverte) has just announced the 2013 winners. This competition, recognized as one of the most prestigious in the world, celebrates fine art photography and the discovery of new talent.

The program provides the winners with cash awards, an exhibition at the November Salon de la Photo in Paris, and acceptance into the prestigious collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

jury panel looking at computer and photos, choosing exceptional photographs capturing a moment and showing how to win a photo competition (© www.krystalkenney.com)

All attention is focused on the difficult selection process.
© krystalkenney.com

The Magnificent Seven

After three months of intensive review, including a careful study of the fine art prints from the 44 finalists, seven exceptional photographs (and photographers) emerged.

A 1st Place Award was presented in each of the categories: Abstract, Cityscape/Architecture, Experimental, Landscape/Seascape/Nature, People/Portraits, Still Life, and Street Photography/Documentary.

These seven images stood out from more than 5000 images submitted from 82 countries.
They spoke to the personal artistic tastes of six expert, but very different, jurors.
And they made it through three jury rounds, each time proving powerful enough, memorable enough, and different enough from the other images to leave a lasting impression with the jurors.

jurors look at work, exceptional photographs capturing the moment and showing us how to win a photo competition (Photo © www.krystalkenney.com)

Jurors Alexandre Percy, Didier Brousse, and Anne Biroleau study a competition entry.
© krystalkenney.com

How to Win the Hearts and Minds of the Jurors

The jury included curators Anne Biroleau from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and David Travis from the Chicago Institute of Art; Gallery Directors Alexandre Percy of the Acte 2 Galerie and Didier Brousse of the Galerie Camera Obscura, both in Paris; Julie Grahame, Publisher of aCurator Magazine; and photographer Hiroshi Watanabe.

The panel was chosen for their wide-ranging experience and their dedication to the importance of recognizing and supporting deserving talent.

The jury looked for artistry and originality of the vision. They looked for images they hadn’t seen before—things that were memorable, moving, surprising, or hauntingly beautiful. Photographs that offered a deep and lasting impression.

A man feeding swans in the snow, one of the exceptional photographs capturing the moment and showing how to win a photo competition (Photo © Marcin Ryczek)

A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow
© 2013 Marcin Ryczek (Poland)

Yin and Yang

“It is said that the best photography moves people no matter what culture they come from,” says Marcin Ryczek from Poland, winner of the 1st Place Award in Landscape/Seascape/Nature. “This is the true force of photography.”

Marcin’s winning image is a simple, contemplative, perfectly composed moment of everyday life—stark white snow juxtaposed with the rippled black Vistula River flowing through Krakow, white swans being fed by a black-clad man. Positive and negative space. Yin and yang.

“Winning this award confirms my belief that I’m on the right path and that my approach to creating images appeals to the imagination and emotions of the public.”

Abstract photo with blue and gray, one of the exceptional photographs capturing a moment and showing how to win a photo competition (Photo © Simona Bonanno)

The Mystery of Reality

Italian Simona Bonanno won the 1st Place Award in the Abstract category. She defines her work as “a place where light meets color and where perception of the known is lost.” “It is here,” she believes, “that we find our innermost needs.”

“I come from an artistic family so my passion for all things creative was predestined,” Simona says. “But it is photography’s tenuous relationship with reality that fascinates me. You don’t know what happened before and after the image, so anything is possible.”

multiple exposures of a Berlin landmark, one of the exceptional photographs capturing a moment and showing how to win a photo competition (Photo © Frank Machalowski)

Multiplicities in Urban Life

Berliner Frank Machalowski’s 1st Place photograph in the Cityscape/Architecture category is part of his series of Berlin landmarks. His integrated multiple exposures provide many different views of the same structure and offer, in his words, “a haphazard look at urban life.”

young girl covered in stocking, one of the exceptional photographs capturing a moment and showing how to win a photo competition (Photo © Maria Garcia)

Human Moments

Maria Garcia, from Peru, won the 1st Place Award in the People/Portraits category. Her image is part of a series called Family Ties, which explores death not only as an end of life but also as a reminder to live well and relate to others.

woman wearing flower petal, one of the exceptional photographs capturing the moment and showing us how to win a photo competition (Photo © Julia Borissova)

Inventing Memories

Julia Borissova, a photographic artist from Russia, earned the 1st Place Award in the Experimental category with her unique view of history and time.

“I aim to show how, over time, certain details about the past are forgotten,” Julia explains. “And that when we think back, we construct a new image. We replace certain aspects of the past with new, different memories.”

dome of natural life, one of the exceptional photos capturing a moment and showing us how to win a photo competition (Photo © Carole Suety)

Changing Traditions

Originally from Paris, Carole Suety is a London-based photographer who won the 1st Place Award in the Still Life category.

Her image was inspired by the 19th century French tradition of displaying wedding souvenirs and symbolic objects under a glass dome to celebrate a couple’s marriage. Her intent, she says, is “to move beyond relics and to allow the natural back inside the dome.”

woman in bathing suit, one of the exceptional photographs capturing a moment and showing how to win a photo competition (Photo © Richard Ansett)

Artistic Rebellion

Richard Ansett, from the UK, won the 1st Place Award in the Street Photography/Documentary category, although he admits that his images are “ambivalent constructions in which truth and narrative are not considerations.”

He explores a deconstruction of the notion that portraiture should be restricted to faces and believes that compositional rules should not be imposed by the history of art.

“I was taking a risk by presenting my most important work to the scrutiny of strangers and I am very moved that it has been recognized by the jury as something of value.”

“I entered this image because I love it. Winning this award is an affirmation that other people have an emotional response to my work. It is the image that has won, not me.”

Oh, I See

As visual images flood the planet, the fine art photographer’s creative challenge is to make a truly original image—one that has impact and power and the ability to evoke or provoke response.

These talented photographers and these exceptional photographs did just that, proving—strikingly—that fine art photography is alive and well.

Find out more about The International Fine Art Photography Competition, sponsored by The de Groot Foundation.

Visit the exhibition of finalists’ work at the Paris Salon de la Photo from November 7–11, 2013.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 13 Comments

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