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SAMANTHA SEXTON/KANSAN
Art in Focus: Grace Pritchett, food photographer
SAMANTHA SEXTON
@Sambiscuit
Mayonnaise on a paint spackle and potato salad spilled out on a picnic blanket might not sound like much in the way of art, but University senior Grace Pritchett may disagree. With a bubbly personality and an easy smile, however, it's easy to imagine her making a sandwich on a workbench in the hopes of telling an ambiguous story.
"I like to tell stories," Pritchett, a student in the art department with an emphasis in photography, said. "But instead of telling the whole story, I let the viewer come to their own conclusion as to just how that sandwich ended up there."
Pritchett, as an only child, had little to distract her from what she wanted, which turned out to be taking pictures and making messes in the kitchen.
"My parents gave me those little disposable cameras to keep me busy," Pritchett said. "I've always been someone who would run around taking pictures of everything I saw, and I think that it just grew from there."
Pritchett's narrative style has managed to garner her a few hundred followers on her Instagram account and will hopefully land her a position with a magazine that shares her same artistic goals.
"I like to keep things random, but with a purpose," Pritchett said. "I love to make a mess but make it look real. I did a 'brunch gone wrong' with syrup everywhere and what would've been a really attractive meal was all messy."
She added: "I want the viewer to look at it and say, 'How'd that happen?' Basically, I just want to make people stop and think."
Kaitlin Obermeyer, a fellow photo major, says she's learned a lot by watching her friend develop artistically over the years.
"The great thing about being an art student is that everyone around you has a different style or perspective so it's hard not to learn from others," Obermeyer said. "But when I'm looking at Grace's photos I always admire her eye for detail. She's done a lot of styles, but whatever it is she's doing, you know it will be done with purpose and very meticulous attention to detail."
Even at the very edge of a photo, each part of the image plays a role in telling, or more accurately, asking the question that Pritchett
wants the viewer to see. Her current project, mixing crime scene photography mixed with food styling, embodies this idea, telling a story with every individual piece.
"Grace has two very different passions in food and photography," Obermeyer said. "But she's managed to combine those two to make something really cool in her work."
Pritchett said she loves food as much as photography because she was taught to cook by her mother, who had in turn been taught by her mother.
"Cooking runs in my family," Pritchett said. "I love how cooking has the same storytelling style that I use. You start with ingredients and step-by-step end up with a new result."
Pritchett said she hopes to go into food photography professionally after school
and is even working on her own cookbook of sorts.
"When I'm done with my current project I want to compile it all into a 'mock cookbook,'" Pritchett said. "I like to include humor into my photos, so I thought it would be funny to take weird pictures and add some text trying to explain how that pickle ended up there or how to make a sandwich on a workbench."
Obermeyer said having seen Pritchett work since their freshman year, she can't wait to see how she will make people think this time.
"I'm really excited to see her final project," Obermeyer said. "Seeing her work with her two passions and knowing she'll go somewhere crazy with it makes me excited to see it."
school but hopes to land a gig at a magazine focusing on food photography. She still agrees that, as an artist, she should keep her options open.
Pritchett said she's still looking into options for when she's done with
"I definitely think that having an online presence with blogs and Instagram is very important for a new artist," Pritchett said. "I'm trying to build my brand and while I hope to be a food photographer with a magazine, some people are making some serious dough online so I'll keep an eye on that."
Online or in a magazine, keeping an eye on where Pritchett's work goes from here could be interesting just follow the trail of syrup and whiskey.
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