Kokea Kwok
A photographer and graphic designer
My work explores our complex relationship with food in three series, which are Comfort food, Unnatural food and You are what you eat.
The images aim to challenge conventions and assumptions associated with food production and consumption to inform my audience of the wider societal issues and environmental impact our food choices have on humanity and the health of our planet.
The final work consists of 22 images as well as a publication.
Comfort Food
Our food choices are influenced by more and more external factors now, such as social, economic and productivity developments. I was interested in this and tried to explore the current relationship between humans and food.
I try to find the answers to these two questions through my research: What is food to us now? What are we thinking about when we choose food?
From the perspective of an individual, the close relationship between humans and food is stable and safe.
It seems that we choose food according to its functionality and our growth needs, but our upbringing and familiar experiences actually shape our food taste preferences.
When our brain evaluates food, the affective part has the greatest influence. For most people, favourite food symbolises some comfort memories that make us feel pleasure and relax, that is why the food can bring us a sense of safety.
Unnatural Food
In our assumptions, food seems to be natural, but the stories behind the food production showed me the opposite truth.
I realise that our food is unnatural when humans start to selectively cultivate it according to our needs. The selective breeding of food means that we devote most of our environmental resources to producing popular foods, which upsets the balance of natural development.
Aim to challenge the conventions and assumptions we associate with food production and consumption through my work. I decided to explore food production in-depth and show my audience the stories behind the production of food. I aim to inform my audience about wider social issues and the environmental impact of our food choices on humans and the health of the planet.
You Are What You Eat
Our food production is currently facing serious environmental problems. According to expert forecasts, the earth’s resources will be needed to feed 9 billion people in 2050.
I realised that I needed to consider the relationship between people and food from a more objective perspective, for example by taking into account the environment and future developments. What are the implications of our food choices today for the future? Is there a social responsibility that we need to take on board with our eating habits?
The sustainability of human development is affected by food production, and food production is being modified by our dietary choices and needs. Our diet is closely linked to the development of the environment in which we live.
Our current food choices shape our future. Knowing what we’re eating and where the food on our plate is coming from will help us to be aware of the importance of sustainable eating.
Responsible eating should go well beyond personal benefits.
Publication – FOOD?
This is a report that presents my exploration of the complex relationship between food and humans. It shows the outcomes of the three parts I went through in my exploration and employed an irreverent and somewhat idiosyncratic visual language to convey my thought. The three parts are: Comfort food, Unnatural Food and You Are What You Eat. My constructed images aim to challenge conventions and assumptions associated with food production and consumption to inform my audience of the wider societal issues and environmental impact our food choices have on humanity and the health of our planet.
