Why do I have to BE anything? Why can’t I just do the things that interest me? Follow my enthusiasm wherever it takes me?
These are the questions I’ve been musing on lately as I flip my life on its head and lean into my newfound excitement for documenting the lives and knives of people in and around food. As I weave in and out of kitchens with my camera, I find myself missing the adrenaline that comes with working with my hands, on my feet, and immediately creating something tangible. Do I want to be a line cook? No (and I don’t think my partial blindness would even allow me). Do I want to revive my pizza pop up? Helll no. So what do I want? Who am I trying to be?
The only answer I’ve got is this: Photography is not enough, cooking in a kitchen is not enough, making music is not enough,… but maybe all of them all at the same time could be.
New on the Gusto! site:
An interview with cook, writer, stylist, photographer Saehee Cho.
Saehee thoughtfully answered some of my questions about food, how she approaches life and creativity, why she spends so much time in Mexico, and more.
“As a culture I think we give disproportionate value to the singular focus of career or what I’ve been calling, vertical living. I think it’s helpful to think of my work as a practice because it allows work to breathe and change naturally. There’s nothing wrong with having a strong focus in any one direction but for myself, I’ve always known I need both food and writing. Writing is synonymous with thinking for me–it’s how I make sense of the world. I often don’t know what I’m thinking until I take the time to commit it to paper. Food is how I contribute, it’s the way I take care of the people around me. It’s tangible, consumable love.”- Saehee Cho
On Cooking, Creativity, Slow Travel
Man, if you want to do all of them at the same time by setting up your own cameras and lighting and putting on a concert from inside a kitchen while people are cooking around you and then you release the footage I am THERE.