Food Photographer and Director Malou Burger talks about the highs and lows of lockdown, and semi lockdown work life….
How long have you been working in food Malou?
20 years- time flies when you are having fun. No day is ever the same and so I have loved every minute of it. I started assisting in the time of polaroids I have fond memories of cycling to the lab for clip tests. How times have changed!
What drew you to this area when you initially started out in pursuit of a career in fashion?
On completion of my fashion degree I decided to travel the world and shoot my portfolio at the same time. First stop was Tokyo for a year where I started shooting fashion models. Not knowing a soul I swiftly moved into a gaijin house (foreigner house) which completely changed the course of my life, as I met Kostas who was then a chef and is now my husband. (that’s a whole different story!). Our travels continued onto South Africa and Melbourne where he introduced me to lots of celebrity chefs and I haven’t looked back. In all honesty I can’t understand why I gravitated towards fashion instead of food in the first place. I come from an unbelievably foodie family with a mother a Cordon Bleu chef who firmly believes in the power of food as medicine and cooking every meal from scratch. I have memories of herbs drying everywhere in the kitchen, collecting elderberries to make cordial cordial and sloes for sloe gin.
Shooting Christmas for Quakers
What has been your favourite lockdown shoot project?
I think it has to be the shoot we did for Longbottom with Umbrella Creative as we were given huge amounts of creative autonomy and the brief was fabulous... “balance refined and unrefined - with a sophisticated and well-loved Bloody Mary drink and hot sauce.” The shoot was totally liberating and great fun.
For the Bloody Mary, we shot the aftermath of a big night out... full English breakfast at a greasy spoon with a Bloody Mary to make everything feel good again! Little details making it real - lipstick on the Bloody Mary glass, burntish toast and baked bean spillage on the simply fabulous yellow gingham tablecloth.
For the hot sauce, we created an extravagant banquet of total overindulgence. I have never worked on quite so many varying levels of spillages on a tablecloth before. Matching foods to the hot sauce was quite an eye opener as there were so many we could to choose from... but we settle on lobsters, crab and oysters!
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During lockdown you have worked with your husband the amazing food and drink Stylist Kostas Stavrinos
What is it like to work together?
Yes ordinarily I work with a wide variety of food stylists but during lockdown I have worked exclusively with Kostas and it has been epic, and we’ve shot some great stuff. We like to think we are like yin and yang- we complement each other beautifully but we are both very different. I am very English and he is a hot-blooded Greek Australian - quite magically it works.
Kostas is absolutely passionate about cooking and creating beautiful food and this combined with his extensive knowledge about anything foodie is simply invaluable for any shoot we work together on. He can literally work on anything from a joint of meat, to oozing burgers or ice-cream on a summers day. We know each other inside out and so often read each other’s minds which is very useful when we are spending long hours and days together in the studio. I have to confess it can also be intense living and working together so much but we love it. It goes without saying that we have a general understanding that I won’t touch the food if he doesn’t touch the camera.
Fine tuning the chocolate swirls
What do you like best about the way he works?
Kostas has a straight forward no-nonsense approach to every job, his food looks great, and tastes show stopping. He has a relaxed, yet attentive manner and is brilliant fun to work with. I also love his approach to presentation which is modern and natural. He has shot numerous high-profile advertising campaigns and TV commercials and so when we shoot together I have complete faith that I can focus on the camera and lighting and leave him to look after the food. He has the ability to work quickly and whip up an amazing dish within minutes - but can also work with great attention to detail. We recently worked on a shoot where a coffee bean had to magically float on the top of an expresso martini his solution was to creating a mini rig. It had been an incredibly long day and he really just pulled it out of the bag!
The wonderful thing about shooting together during lockdown is that we have had plenty of time bounce ideas off each other and brain storm and develop our projects. We have worked on everything from decadent feasts, to fronts of pack for Quakers (moving oats by the millimetre to catch the light just right). We’ve started fires for chilli companies through to chiselling massive blocks of ice, to style fabulous cocktails for Waitrose Drinks.
Malou and Kostas. Spot the spoon ready to be featured on the front of a Quaker packet!
Your home studio must have been busy during lockdown! How did you find the experience?
It has been crazy busy! We’ve had a constant flow of props and food arriving. We were well stocked on essentials! as amongst the many shots we shot for 2 chilli brands and alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks company plus packaging for Jamie Oliver. I think Kostas happiest moment was the HUGE block of ice for the Waitrose Drinks shoot which was perfect to accompany his perfect glass of scotch!
Which projects have you worked on during lockdown?
- Waitrose Drinks Magazine
- Longbottom & Co Fine British Goods
- BOL foods
- Wilshire Chilli Farm
- Asda
- Jamie Oliver packaging
- Quakers Oats Christmas
- Lewis and Baker for Fulfil UK
How have you found remote working, for your clients?
It has been surprisingly straightforward, and we have been able to communicate easily with clients whilst shooting. On a food shoot it’s essential that the client is ready to give feedback immediately so that the food doesn’t die, and all our clients have been brilliant and very present. On hand at every turn as if they were present in the studio. To be as time efficient as possible most of the creative decisions have been determined ahead of the shoot and we have found this to be very effective.
I have to be honest I do miss having an art director on set… as things can take a longer to shoot remotely and you can’t share that 4 o’clock pick me up over zoom in quite the same way. During full lockdown, I also didn’t have the luxury of working with an assistant or prop stylist on set, so I had to multi task, and things definitely took longer. During lockdown I always gave myself a dedicated pre-light day plus a day to pack down the set and props, this also gave Kostas and I time to look at the food. I am a big believer in thorough preparation and planning on every shoot.
I certainly don’t miss the daily commute to London with all of the kit and I also love the fact that my children now also have a really good understanding of what our job involves.
With regard to projects you have worked on this Summer, which stand out in your mind as logistical achievements.
Shooting an Asda commercial on my phone. Kostas did the food styling; the children were talent and even the dog and au pair took part. The dog stole some pizza, our au pair was on wardrobe and there was even a shot a silly clip of me consuming a marshmallow smoothie. (This thankfully never aired!)
The Jamie Oliver packaging shoot of lasagne and meat balls was a very large production with clients calling in from all over Europe, plus the production team, and food team from London. It was certainly challenging to do a shoot with such a large team all wanting slightly different things in terms of look of food but we were triumphant and the client was thrilled with the outcome.
How do you think Covid will affect the way we will all work in years to come?
I think Covid will forever change how we work with more people working remotely, companies maybe opening regional hubs or providing access to co-working spaces wherever their workers are concentrated. I have no doubt that I will continue to shoot much more from home. I used to shoot a huge number of food shoots overseas every year, but I can’t see that happening for a while.
On the plus side, since lockdown we have forged some really great relationship with other local creatives so they can be involved if necessary, we have also started buying a lot more props to build up our prop collection. It is brilliant that Kostas and I work together on food shoots but outside lockdown we also work very independently of each other. He works with other food photographers and I work with a wide range of food stylists. In reality the industry is really rather incestuous and so we all know each other!
Malou and Kostas shooting food video with DOP at home studio
We now find ourselves starting another lockdown. What have you found most challenging with the changing landscape and the day to day of working around Covid.
For us the most challenging part of Covid has been looking after the children who have desperately missed their friends, and my mother who lives on her own. She has kept herself busy learning languages online and making the garden look amazing but somehow going into a second lockdown seems doubly hard. We might have a good stash of bog roll but I would much prefer to hug my friends and family instead of reaching for a mask!
What are you most grateful for in the work situation you find yourself in?
I have just been so grateful that we had the dedicated studio space to shoot in with a comprehensive level of lighting and camera equipment, as it enables us to shoot pretty much any brief remotely. We also have a second kitchen which has literally been invaluable. I am also incredibly grateful to our loyal au pair as I am not entirely sure how we would have coped without her, as shoots can be completely consuming!
Last but not least I am grateful to my wonderful husband who is my rock, and for the hours of dedication and planning he has put into all our shoots!
Lastly does Kostas do all the cooking at home?
Yes, he does however I do all the washing up!
Food Photographer and Director Malou Burger, and Husband Food Stylist Kostas Stavrinos live together in Berkshire with their two kids, their dog and their Home Studio. In the current climate, home working is very much top of the menu!
For stills shoots please contact Malou directly at malouburger@gmail.com or ring: 07809 404998
Live action shoots are produced by Debbie Carmichael a leading production producer with over 20 years experience. For more information contact atheneparkerconsulting@gmail.com or ring: 07976 661580