The Favorite Food Recipes of Famous Photographers

anseladamscookbook

Back in the late 1970s, the George Eastman Museum asked a group of photographers to share their favorite recipes and food photos to create a cookbook. Now, four decades later, it has finally been published as The Photographer’s Cookbook.

Put together by museum curator Lisa Hostetler, the book contains photos and recipes by some of the biggest names in photography. You’ll find George Eastman’s “Lemon Meringue Pie,” Ansel Adams’ “Poached Eggs in Beer,” Richard Avedon’s “Royal Pot Roast,” William Eggleston’s “Cheese Grits Casserole,” and more.

“The book provides a time capsule of contemporary photographers of the 1970s—many before they made a name for themselves—as well as a fascinating look at how they depicted food, family, and home, taking readers behind the camera and into the hearts, and stomachs of some of photography’s most important practitioners,” the book’s description states.

Here’s a selection of the photos and recipes found in the book:

Ansel Adams’s Poached Eggs in Beer

Ansel Adams, Still Life, San Francisco 1932
Ansel Adams, Still Life, San Francisco 1932. © 2016 The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

anselrecipe

Ralph Steiner’s Zwei Vier Minuten Eier

Ralph Steiner, Ham and Eggs, advertisement for The Delineator, 1929. © Estate of Ralph Steiner, image courtesy of George Eastman Museum.
Ralph Steiner, Ham and Eggs, advertisement for The Delineator, 1929. © Estate of Ralph Steiner, image courtesy of George Eastman Museum.

steiner

William Eggleston’s Cheese Grits Casserole

William Eggleston, Untitled, 1976; from the series Election Eve. © Eggleston Artistic Trust, Courtesy Cheim & Read, New York
William Eggleston, Untitled, 1976; from the series Election Eve. © Eggleston Artistic Trust, Courtesy Cheim & Read, New York

eggleston

Imogen Cunningham’s Borscht

Imogen Cunningham, My Kitchen Sink, 1947. © Imogen Cunningham Trust
Imogen Cunningham, My Kitchen Sink, 1947. © Imogen Cunningham Trust

imogen

Robert Heinecken’s Serious Martini

Robert Heinecken, PP/Whiskey—Figures/E, 1991. © The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago, courtesy Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles.
Robert Heinecken, PP/Whiskey—Figures/E, 1991. © The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago, courtesy Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles.

heineken

Mark Klett’s Home-Brew Beer

Mark Klett, Tea Break at Teapot Rock, 1997. © Mark Klett, courtesy the artist/Pace MacGill Gallery, NY
Mark Klett, Tea Break at Teapot Rock, 1997. © Mark Klett, courtesy the artist/Pace MacGill Gallery, NY

beer

Barbara Morgan’s Global Bread Cake

Barbara Morgan, Corn, Multiple, 1945. © Barbara Morgan Archives
Barbara Morgan, Corn, Multiple, 1945. © Barbara Morgan Archives

barbara

Neal Slavin: Nylen’s Frankfurters in Full Dress

Neal Slavin, Frankfurters in Full Dress, 1978. © Neal Slavin
Neal Slavin, Frankfurters in Full Dress, 1978. © Neal Slavin

neal

Arthur Tress’s Sweet and Sour Broccoli

Athur Tress, Nursing the "Dog", Playland,   San Francisco, 1964. © Arthur Tress
Athur Tress, Nursing the “Dog”, Playland, San Francisco, 1964. © Arthur Tress

tress

Stephen Shore’s Key Lime Pie Supreme

Stephen Shore, New York City, New York, September–October 1972. © Stephen Shore, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York
Stephen Shore, New York City, New York, September–October 1972. © Stephen Shore, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

keylimeshore

The Photographer’s Cookbook is an 160-page cookbook containing 50 black-and-white photos and 4 color photos.

bookcover

You can purchase the book today for $20.

Discussion