By Harrison Goldfein, Julia Laico, & Renee Zhang
On October 6th, 2010 Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger invented Instagram, a mobile phone app that allows people to share pictures with other users. Primarily, the app is used to share personal updates (Lagorio-Chafkin). However, some people have created Instagram accounts solely to document food and their experiences with it. Unlike Facebook food accounts, which showcase time-lapse recipe videos, Instagram food accounts display “over-the-top, intensely trend-driven, and visually arresting” meals (Mull). These exquisitely unique dishes can range from triple-decker cheeseburgers to organic superfood bowls. So, what makes Instagram food so aesthetically appealing? In order to investigate the process, status, visual significance, and pleasure within Instagram food accounts as well as its widespread popularity, our group utilized excerpts from Raymond Boisvert’s and Lisa Heldke’s Philosophers at Table, “Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting” by Carolyn Korsmeyer, “Tempting the Palate: The Food Stylist’s Art” by John F. Carafoli, “Instagram Food is a Sad, Sparkly Lie” by Amanda Mull, “Picture Perfect? How Instagram Changed the Food We Eat” by Sarah Lee, and an interview with the owner of the popular food account @yourdailynom. Using the aforementioned sources as support, we claim that the appeal of Instagram food accounts is not only due to their presented image of perfection and fantasy, but also due to the aesthetic and inspiring experience of engaging with these accounts.
In Philosophers at Table: On Food and Being Human, Boisvert and Heldke assert that one cannot successfully talk about art and aesthetics without considering the all-inclusive and individual human experience. Art is not merely a detached depiction of universal beauty, but rather is experienced in all aspects of daily life involving scenery, utility, and engagement (after all, the mind is a gear within the body, not separate from it). To Boisvert and Heldke, there is something incomplete about viewing art removed from its original context, glorified, untouchable, and bracketed. Boisvert/Heldke determines that this “museum conception of art” reduces the individual to a disconnected spectator and therefore is an exception to their new holistic and bodily definition of art (Boisvert & Heldke 90). However, we believe that even when taken out of its original context and intended location, the experience of viewing visual artwork meant “only for looking not touching” is not incomplete or detached at all. At first glance, the perfectly curated pictures of Instagram food illuminated on a tiny Retina HD display seem to fit right into the sanctified “museum conception of art” that Boisvert and Heldke were seeking to redefine. It is true to a certain degree – you cannot eat, touch, smell, or even hear the pictures you see on Instagram and in that sense, you are deprived of what Boisvert and Heldke calls the holistic aesthetic experience. However, as we explore in this blog, there is in fact physical labor involved in obtaining the food and staging the perfect picture to post. Even for the viewer, despite its lack of “real,” bodily engagement, Instagram food drives a different kind of engagement – one that is virtual, but not detached.
In short, posting food pictures on Instagram is not as detached or mindless as it seems. Physical, mental and virtual engagement, rather than mere impartial spectatorship, are all factors that are at play on Instagram. As previously mentioned, Boisvert and Heldke reject defining art based on the mind-body dualism commonly found in philosophy, which pushes the idea that sight and hearing are the higher, intellectual senses while taste, touch, and smell are the lower, bodily senses. This dualism is what gave rise to the idea that for art to be considered as such, it must be transcendent, pure, and purportedly universal in its beauty (Boisvert & Heldke 81). Instead, they suggest a new idea that recognizes that the senses often work together and can’t be thought of as either intellectual/cognitive or bodily/emotive. Korsmeyer makes a similar argument in her journal article “Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting” where she points out that “[n]o full and complete sensation is free from an awareness of its object. That is, there is no coherent sensation without cognition-i.e., without taking the object of sensation to be something or other” (Korsmeyer 218). With the interactive nature of our cognitive and emotive senses in mind, we believe that as bodily creatures, even the viewing of fine art, and visual food art, necessitates the use of both sensory and intellectual organs and is therefore inseparable from the subjective human experience. In this way, “museum art” and all visual art are not the exception to the holistic and bodily definition of art as asserted by Boisvert and Heldke, but inherently incorporated into it.
While a picture cannot be not experienced within its interactable physical surroundings, it certainly is experienced within the context of the individual viewer’s internal gallery of related knowledge and sentiments. Whether you have scrutinized a picture of a certain food multitudes of times online, have been wanting to try it for yourself, or have multiple positive memories associated with it, this contextual knowledge plays an huge role in determining how mentally stimulating and aesthetic a picture of that food is to you individually. At times, even without substantial background knowledge, there is a certain pleasure in leaving the mystery of the subject up to the scope of the imagination – as previously mentioned, selling a fantasy is a huge part of what makes Instagram so addictive. The depiction of healthy (and also not so healthy) food trends on Instagram filtered and cropped to perfection can provide immeasurable amounts of aesthetic pleasure and satisfaction sometimes beyond that of actually eating the food. For example, current trends such as pictures of rainbow bagels or Dalgona coffee would not evoke the same (perhaps excessively) exuberant response a couple years ago as they do now; nowadays, food trends can gain lots of traction on Instagram and other platforms due to the ease at which consumers can rapidly engage with online media. Unlike Boisvert and Heldke’s “museum art,” Instagram food does not involve an impartial spectator at all. Instead, the social media aspect of anticipating, relating, sharing, and commenting involves a fully attentive and eagerly participating user.
While creating an Instagram food account may seem appealing, the operation process is incredibly intricate. Specifically, the photographer must capture a singular image that “appeal[s] to the five senses” (Carafoli 94). In order to do this, the food stylist must “start out with a theme and then work with colors, textures, patterns, and the positive and negative shapes they create” (Carafoli 96). These considerations may seem intuitive, however, the process is physically and mentally labor intensive for the photographer. For example, the owners of these accounts must find the appropriate backgrounds, angles, and captions for each meal. Even the acquisition of a particularly trendy food is sometimes an arduous process in and of itself. According to Mull, “lines can stretch for hours for rainbow bagels with birthday cake cream cheese”. While the intensive labor may be one factor that dissuades people from creating food accounts, there may be other barriers to entry. Specifically, many of these accounts attract a particular demographic that aspire to live a fantasy of status and fitness. As a result, fit white women have largely controlled the most popular Instagram food accounts (Mull). As they post their delicious treats, they also document their fit physique. This trend contributes to the status and fantasy that the viewers desire; these accounts inspire fit, healthy lives while consuming grandiose meals (Mull).
A long-time friend of Julia’s, Isabelle, once ran a popular Instagram food account: @yourdailynom. While she has basically discontinued its use, the account once had upwards of 20,000 followers, attracting dozens of comments per post and direct messages from vendors asking for shout-outs, as well as from other food lovers sending Isabelle pictures of their own dining experiences. To gain more insight into why people create and view Instagram food accounts, Julia interviewed Isabelle to ask her about her motivation for creating @yourdailynom and why she thinks her account, and others like it, have gained such internet popularity.
In their interview, Isabelle told Julia that despite the wide array and high following of some super-popular Instagram food accounts, these did not influence or motivate her. She followed those accounts, but when she created her account at the end of sixth grade, “I was never expecting to get a big following, or that was not the initial goal. I just had a deep passion for food,” she said, laughing. “I loved it, and I would watch shows about food, and go out to different restaurants and plan meals and so, it was mainly because I was cooking and going out to a lot of cool restaurants and I wanted to commemorate and share it.” Isabelle grew up until age sixteen in Atlanta, so she is intimately familiar with the incredible food scene here. She was raised by food-lovers and became one herself, and the account was born mainly out of Isabelle’s wish to document her appreciation of and experiences with food.
Next, Julia asked Isabelle her take on our big question: what makes Instagram food accounts so appealing? In her view,
“It’s a 2-part answer. First of all, I’ve always been really drawn to them personally because even though it’s not sensory, I still feel some degree of satisfaction looking through lots of different pictures and getting inspiration either for wanting to make it, or finding a restaurant that has it. I like planning out meals and getting excited for what I’m gonna eat next, and that’s a big part of helping me decide. I also think it’s one of the easiest things to look “aesthetic” cause it’s such a quick trigger in your brain of, like, reward. Everyone likes these good, attractive-looking things. Food pictures are easier to please than pictures of people’s faces, for example. And I think it’s easy for people to agree that it looks really nice.”
Coming from the owner of a food account, this answer is definitely enlightening. True, looking at pictures of food does not elicit the same holistic response as eating does, but it is still rewarding both because it is pleasing to the eye, like visual art, and it offers inspiration, enthusiasm and excitement. People commonly look up the menu of a restaurant or check if the restaurant has a photo gallery before dining there, not out of precaution but to generate more excitement for the coming meal. According to Sarah Lee, in her BBC article “Picture perfect? How Instagram Changed the Food We Eat”, menus and interiors of some restaurants have been specifically redesigned to be photogenic and “Instagrammable”. While scrolling through potential dinner recipes, it seems intuitive that an appetizing photo of the dish would prompt someone at home to make it. Pictures of food are a unique type of art not only because they can offer a similar aesthetic beauty that pleases the eye, but also because there lingers the potential of possibly enjoying this same food ourselves.
However, Isabelle noted that the aesthetic experience of food pictures does not rely merely on the food. Markedly, many of @yourdailynom’s posts are quite artfully and intentionally staged, such as with a nicely set table or a beautiful sunset in the background. When Julia asked her to what extent she felt that this was important, Isabelle explained that while she would’ve preferred to keep the photos mostly about the meal, her account would likely not have gained the same amount of traction had she done so: “In the beginning for me, it was really about the food, and that’s all I wanted to show, but the thing that got me followers was the aesthetic.” Her older sister, Ava, convinced her to focus more on the overall picture, not just the food, and helped Isabelle transform the general look of the account. Ava felt this was important, in Isabelle’s view, “Because having a really nice, professional-looking feed, I think people are drawn to that. It looks more legit, it’s also promoting that lifestyle – people follow accounts that show things they wish they had in their lives.” In her view, part of food Instagram accounts’ appeal is that they are aspirational. Not only do people imagine themselves eating the food in the photos, but they envision themselves in the place and space where the photo is taken: at a fancy restaurant, on a beach, etcetera. These accounts do not just promote a product or a dish: they promote a lifestyle.
Isabelle’s comments provide insight on three important parts of an Instagram user’s experience and interaction with food accounts: aesthetic, aspiration, and inspiration. As Isabelle mentioned, @yourdailynom would be much less, if at all, popular, if she disregarded the background and setting of the photos. The food itself wasn’t sufficient to attract a wide following, therefore the aesthetic of food accounts – the overall look of the photo and the lifestyle imagery it implies – can attract foodies and non-foodies alike. In John Carafoli’s essay, “Tempting the Palate: The Food Stylist’s Art,” he explains the painstaking detail and thought put into professional food photo shoots, such as those for a food or cooking magazine or a holiday advertisement. According to Carafoli, no facet is unimportant: “Attention is paid to every detail, even the angle of the knife and fork” (Carafoli 94). He then describes the artful nature of these photographs, somewhat mirroring Boisvert and Heldke’s “museum” conception of art. Although you cannot interact with the food within the picture and gain the holistic sensory response that eating involves, these photos are not about the food alone, and they can serve as a holistic work of art. As Carafoli writes:
“The stylist must be extremely knowledgeable about food and its chemistry and must be willing to explore original and exciting ways of looking at food. […] We use the real thing. Making it look appealing and appetizing is the greatest challenge, though there are others. […] The food stylist makes beautiful, aesthetically pleasing food that tempts people to buy a product.”
(Carafoli 96)
The question the Instagram photographer subconsciously asks herself is not only “How delicious does this food look?” but also “How appealing is this photograph that happens to feature food, and how effective is it at conveying its message?”
A related but similar facet of food accounts and their subsequent effect on users is their aspirational nature. Not only does a perfectly-staged photograph featuring a Thanksgiving turkey on an ornate table, alongside a bouquet of flowers and candlelight, look beautiful, but it also displays a type of lifestyle that many people find appealing. A photo such as this one suggests wealth, expensive taste, elegance, cleanliness, bounty, and the existence of friends and family. As Isabelle said, “People follow accounts that show things they wish they had in their lives.” This is the aspirational quality of Instagram accounts. Few people would be apt to follow an account with pictures of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or bowls of cereal, because most people can make that at home and do not consider it “special,” while it may be delicious and satisfying. People don’t want to see a PB and J on Instagram unless the New York City skyline or a white sand beach lies in the background. Ideally, both the subject and setting of the photo are luxurious. People are attracted to this type of Instagram post not only because it can be incredibly artful, as noted earlier, but because people like to create “a fantasy around the food, fusing the ideal in the photo with the notion of what can realistically be achieved” (Carafoli 97). Amanda Mull touches on this point in her article, “Instagram Food Is a Sad, Sparkly Lie.” Referring to viewers’ encounter with food pictures on Instagram, she explains, “Its appearance in your timeline signals status: You went to the place. You got the thing. You’re the kind of person who lives that kind of life.” Whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, what we eat is fundamental to our identity, therefore food can serve as a significant influence both in how we view ourselves and in what we aspire to be and achieve.
Instagram food accounts are a source of not just aspiration, but also of inspiration, particularly for cooks and food lovers. Instagram, like many other popular social media platforms, is by no means lacking in viewer engagement; accounts and their viewers have the opportunity to interact with each other via direct messaging, sharing, favorites, comments sections, 24-hour stories, and Instagram livestreams. On this platform, recipes are exchanged, tips provided, tutorials given, and ultimately, meals (or pictures of them) are shared. Restaurants post pictures of their dishes, inspiring other chefs to try similar techniques, inspiring cooks to attempt the same dish at home, or, most simply, inspiring users to save up some money to go to that restaurant and eat that dish. During the quarantine due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, seasoned chefs and completely inexperienced cooks alike have begun to cook and bake up a storm. Relatedly, people stuck at home use their phones much more than they typically do, and Instagram has become a trove of food pictures, recipes and cooking tips. This may help explain the popularity of Instagram foods: the aesthetic, art, and accessibility within Instagram food may inspire a particular lifestyle of consuming scrumptious dishes.
So, with all of this in mind, why are Instagram food accounts so appealing and popular? The visual consumption of food on Instagram involves both the food account/photographer and the user/viewer. As with Isabelle’s case, her account was created first out of a raw passion for food, and her desire to save these special moments and share this joy with others. When her account began to grow more popular, she became increasingly aware of how to intentionally improve the overall appeal of her feed. As Carafoli describes, there is much more to the picture than just taking a simple snapshot of the food that is being showcased, it is a considerably artistic and labor-intensive process. Every aspect from texture to lighting is curated by the photographer and meant to evoke positive feelings within the audience, ultimately driving them to try out the food for themselves or share the picture that is displayed. In this way, food accounts can be both a source of inspiration and of aspiration for users and viewers. While some accounts focus on recipes that can be made at home, others aim to construct an unreachable, perfect image and lifestyle. Though Mull calls the latter a “sad, sparkly lie,” it’s undeniable that imagination plays a crucial role in shaping our own identity and self-expression, and as Lee points out, whether it is in a positive or negative light, Instagram has unarguably changed how we eat, and consequently how we live our lives. And finally, unlike the truncated hierarchy of senses critiqued by Korsmeyer, Boidsvert and Heldke, the art of Instagram food brings something new to the table – it is impossible to separate food photos from the bodily experience when food plays such a crucial role in every aspect of our lives. Therefore, we would like to argue that Instagram’s popularity heavily revolves around a pleasurable artistic quality beyond mere exterior beauty and is rather engaging, consummatory, and aesthetic.
Works Cited:
Boisvert, Raymond D., and Lisa M. Heldke. Philosophers at Table: on Food and Being Human. London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2016.
Carafoli, John F. “Tempting the Palate: The Food Stylist’s Art.” Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies 3, no. 2 (2003): 94-97.
Korsmeyer, Carolyn. “Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 60, no. 3 (2002): 217-225.
Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine. “Inside Instagram’s Humble Beginnings.” Inc.com, Inc., 9 Apr. 2012, https://www.inc.com/30under30/2011/profile-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger-founders-instagram.html
Lee, Sarah. “Picture Perfect? How Instagram Changed the Food We Eat.” BBC News, BBC, 29 Dec. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-42012732.
Mull, Amanda. “Instagram Food Is a Sad, Sparkly Lie.” Eater, Eater, 6 July 2017, www.eater.com/2017/7/6/15925940/instagram-influencers-cronuts-milkshakes-burgers.
Posmantur, Isabelle. (Owner of @yourdailynom). Personal interview. 15 Apr. 2020.
Posmantur, Isabelle. “Taste the Rainbow.” Instagram, 26 Oct. 2016, www.instagram.com/p/BMCzpq4gfhe/?igshid=17c5iplt71rdb.