Food snappers

It might soon happen that a usual set of cutlery gets a new member. Right next to the plate, with the spoon, fork and knife also a camera will be set.

Photographic food diaries are a new Internet phenomenon. The number of people that have to take a picture of anything before they put it in their mouths, be it first class lasagne, exotic fruit from the most outback places, up to the ordinary bag of chips or a chewing gum, is increasing. English language already has a name coined for them - food snappers (probably according to the web site with the same name). The most renowned such a group is on Flickr, called "I Ate This", and has gathered so far more than 20 thousand users with more than 350,000 photos. A giant virtual table. There would probably be even more photos uploaded if the users were not limited to 50 pictures a month. There are similar groups also on other social networks - Facebook, MySpace, Twitter.

Not every person that takes photos of food is a food snapper. Somebody likes to preserve a memory of a special dinner or share it with relatives and friends. Others put the pictures up on their blogs as evidence that they saw or ate something or they want to share their experiences with the strangers on the web sites.
Addicts could be those that have to start every single meal by snapping. Researchers offer various explanations of such behaviour. Some say that they started on their junior year when their mothers wanted to know if they are eating healthy, others say that shooting food made them more curious for trying, the third ones say that this is exactly the way they lost weight, because after posting three photos of an ice cream in a day it is impossible to post the fourth one as well.

There is a need to express ourselves through recipes, but also through photos of what we eat.

New digital cameras that made us forget what the films with 12, 24 or 36 pictures meant, together with their development in a studio, made picture taking free of charge. Nobody bothers anymore with the number of pictures they take. First we shoot, then we choose and then we delete. Digital cameras are always by our side, and nowadays iPhones and other mobiles with cameras. Besides, uploading photos on the web is simple and free. Following market demands, some digital camera manufacturers have included "food" or "cuisine" in their menu options.
It is simply incredible how the technology available to anyone provoked our ego, exhibitionism and voyeurism. Sometimes it seems that only those things happened that we took the photos of. The same is with food.

The restaurants also noticed that more and more people first go for their camera and then for their spoon in front of a full plate.

Naturally, the restaurants also noticed that more and more people first go for their camera and then for their spoon in front of a full plate. Most of them accepted this, providing they do not bother other guests. Besides, it is a kind of advertisement for them. But there are also those that kindly inform the guests that taking pictures of food is not allowed in their restaurants. If the guests would like some photos of the food they ate, the restaurant has photos of all of their meals ready and they would be happy to give them away.

Food defines us, it is a fact that many will agree with. Probably this is the fact that sets the need to express ourselves through recipes, but also photos of what we eat.