Kashmiri Kebab Seller’s Image Shot Wins International Award
Image Credit: Image: Twitter - Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year

There was a time when the art of photography was limited to landscapes and portraits. But today, it has many fields. If you ask me, I think food photography is one of the most interesting ones. Be it for the variety, colour, interesting concepts and so on, food photography has emerged in a big way in the recent past. 

After all, it is the pictures that often make us hungry more than the actual food on sight! Haven’t we all drooled over those Insta-worthy images of a lunch or breakfast table full of colourful juices, crepes, pies, parathas, sandwiches and so on. Besides that, the artistic pictures of chai being poured into glasses or grilling kebabs have always made us hungry. Just the look of the food in the images provides us with comfort and in a way acts as an appetiser, don’t you think? 

To celebrate this art form, the ‘Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year’ award is conferred on talented food photographers from across the globe every year. And this year’s award goes to an Indian photographer who captured the picture of a kebab seller on a street in Srinagar, Kashmir. While the subject of the image may sound simple, one look at it and you’ll know how captivating it is. The picture of the seller engulfed in the smoke emitting from the oven while making kebabs is quite a surreal visual. The photograph was recently shared on the ‘Pink Lady Food Photographer Of The Year’s’ official Twitter handle. 

Take a look :

 Photographer Debdatta Chakraborty was named the overall winner of ‘Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022’. The winning image, which he titled ‘Kebabiyana’, was taken at night on a busy street in Srinagar when food vendors ignited charcoal ovens to make kebabs and other street snacks.   

Twitter users were amazed by the image and reshared it with their comments. "This image, gentle but powerful, nourishes our soul" wrote one user, another said "It's an incredible winning image." Other comments on the post were: 

"Smoky street stall shot scoops top prize in Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year" 

"It's an incredible winning image"  

"This stunning shot is a worthy overall winner of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year".  

According to a BBC report, the awards founder and director Caroline Kenyon described the image as, "In today's world, more than ever, we feel the need for comfort, for love. There is so much to reassure us here - the beautifully captured billowing embrace of the smoke, the golden light, the subject's expression as he prepares the food for sharing. Sparks fly from the skewers, whose roasting we can almost smell. We imagine the warm, delicious aroma."  

‘Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022’ saw photographers from as many as 60 countries from across the world submit their entries and the winners were announced through a live-streamed event.  

Intrigued to see more pictures from the event? Here are some winning pictures from other food categories shared on Twitter:

Aren’t they all impressive?