In recent years, the changes and evolution that Peruvian gastronomy has undergone have been captured through the lens of various specialized photographers. Although my experience as a diner with gastronomy started from a young age, during a time when Europe was the model to follow, I was fortunate that the person who introduced me to food photography was the Chilean Miguel Etchepare, photographer of the famous book "La Cocina Peruana" by Tony Custer, a publication that marked a before and after in the plating of Peruvian food, where white backgrounds and minimalist aesthetics set trends during the early years of the local gastronomic boom.

This book was followed by white tableware that defined a line and made our cuisine more elegant. Homemade Creole food was stylized, and new ways of plating in a more meticulous and harmonious manner appeared. In the 2000s, the white round dish gave way to square plates that invaded Lima and all of Peru. To this style of greater care and elegance came the detail, the enticing close-up, where the food is in an extremely close-up shot, the backgrounds are barely felt, and in many cases, the ingredients accompany the preparations.
Digital photography began to emerge slowly in Peru. Film and Polaroids started to be replaced by digital files, making the work much more agile. No longer do you have to wait hours to take a photo, and in the case of gastronomy, it helps the dishes to be more real because the food no longer has to be left under the lights for a long time before being photographed.

Around 2008, the first food blogs began appearing in the United States and Europe, where food photography took on a strong role. People could cook at home, create beautiful and perfect homemade dishes, photograph them, and share the recipes online. This led to a more authentic photographic style, where natural light became important, and the rustic, textures, and homemade elements became the stars. In the case of Peru, around 2010, tasting menus arrived, and restaurants began telling the story of Peruvian cuisine and of Peru alongside it. Tableware made by local artists or textures that evoke regions of the country where the ingredients come from are used in these menus. Restaurants have solid concepts, and the aim of photography is to enhance and showcase them, whether through lighting, tableware, or the textures on which they are presented.

I arrived from Spain in 2012, after being part of this boom of food blogs that told family stories around food. I learned to cook, style dishes, and photograph them. Because of this, I started to pay attention to the textures around me that I wanted to photograph my dishes on, to make them stand out. I fell in love with overhead shots, open shots where the dishes could be displayed like paintings. That year I arrived in Lima with a very defined style of photos that was beginning to take hold in the city. Floors, wood, tiles, and trays became the backgrounds where I placed the dishes for photos, many of which were shot with natural light simulating afternoon window light. The important thing was to highlight the restaurant's style, and it didn't matter if the textures of the floor had to be used for it.

Social media has gained more and more importance during this time; everyone has a camera in hand on their cell phones and photographs their food with it. The pandemic and the costs of seeking textures and setting up a photo have led to images with flat backgrounds, full of color. Wooden textures are replaced by brighter colors and more midday sunlight, with marked and more urban shadows, especially in fast food and fast-casual dining. Hands and consumption occasions bring the proposal closer to the diner. High-end cuisine continues to bet on a more minimalist style to this day, whether in bright or dark lighting that reflects the establishment's concept, where ceramics are part of the concept and the textures on which the food is photographed as well. Even the ingredients and producers take on a prominent role and become part of the photographs of the establishments. We will see what comes in the coming years, where Artificial Intelligence has just made a strong entrance into the market, and videos are gaining increasing relevance.

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