Delicious UK – (01)January 2021

M

anywords– notallof

themprintableonthese

pages– couldbeused

tosumup2020,but‘pivot’wason

thelipsofmanywhosecareersand

livelihoodswerehaltedastheworld

cametotermswithCovid.It’s

a conceptJulianGeorgeis familiar

with,havingaddedmanystrings to

hisbowsincehestudied

law.Videoediting,filming

anddirecting,thenlater

foodphotography.It was

astheUKenteredits

nationallockdownand

Julian’sworkstarted

droppingoffthatheembarkedon

hismostimportantproject to date:

MadeYouLook.

“Ineededtodiversify,”explains

Julian,whogrewupinDeptford

withhismother,who’soriginally

fromSierraLeone.“Lockdown

gavemethetimetoexploreideas,

and obviously the Black Lives

Mattermovementhappened.There

weretheprotests,butbecauseof

CovidI didn’tgo...I wasgutted

aboutthat.I wantedtohelpthe

situationand,ratherthanjust

voicingmyconcerns,myapproach

hasalwaysbeentothinkabout

whatI canpositivelydotobring

about the change that’s so needed

forustomoveforward.”

Thatpositivechange– onewith

thepotentialtohaveimmediate

impact– cameintheformof

a collaborationwithMikeReid,

culinarydirectorofMRestaurants

andtheGauchogroup.Thepairset

aboutcreatinga seriesofimagesto

celebrate Black History Month and

“Myapproachhasalwaysbeento

thinkaboutwhatI canpositively

do to bring about change”

sharethestoriesofblackBritish

chefs.Julianorganisedphotoshoots

with 28 chefs,fromactivistand

cookbookauthorZoeAdjonyohand

GreatBritishMenuchampionand

restaurateurJamesCochrantothose

juststartingoutintheircareer.

THECREATIVEVISION

“Theaimwastomake

peoplestop,lookdeeper

intothepicturesandask

questions,”saysJulian,who

decidedtophotographthe

chefsinblackandwhite

witha difference– ineach

portraita splashofcolouris pulled

outdramatically.Examplesinclude

anorangeyolkcascadingintoa

mountainofflour,readytobemade

intopastabychefBrianMwangiof

Marylebone’sCarouselrestaurant

(seeoverleaf)– a phenomenally

difficultshottocapture.“Wewent

through12 eggs to get that shot,”→

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

INSPIRING

NEXT

TherearemanyoutstandingblackBritishchefsintheUK,yettheir

talentsareoftenhiddenfromview.PhotographerJulianGeorge

setaboutchangingthatwitha campaignfocusedonbringingthat

talenttothefore.Heaimedtomakepeoplelook,buthenever

imaginedhispictures would end up in lights in the West End

WORDSLAURA ROWE

the

GENERATION

56 deliciousmagazine.co.uk

Julian George