An intensely powerful portrait, The Candy Man, taken in Mumbai, has won the overall prize of Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2023, the world’s leading celebration of the art of food photography and film.
The photograph, taken by UK photographer Jon Enoch in the streets of western Mumbai, captures one of the city’s many candy-floss sellers who use unique ways to display their candy goods in the hope of attracting a buyer.
“I’m ecstatic to receive this award, it’s a real honour to get this recognition in such a prestigious competition laden with wonderful imagery,” says Enoch. “The winning image was part of a personal project – a huge amount of time and thought went into capturing it so it’s great to be recognised by such an esteemed panel of judges. Ever since I first saw the candy floss sellers I was drawn to the shapes, colours and juxtaposition of the candy and the urban environment.”
India’s photographers achieved great success in the competition, with a total of 9 finalists, three of which were category winners. ‘Lost Love – Grandfather’ by Indu Vishwanath Singh won the Food Influencer category. ‘Spices of Indian Household’, a vibrant shot by Amitha A R, won the Young 15 – 17 category. Nikithaa Kumaran won the Food Film Shorts category with ‘Mango Curry’, which captures a lady making a Kerala-style mango curry.
Other photographers with finalist awards included Dheeraj Paul, Sutapa Pal, Indigo Larmour, Deba Prasad Roy, Saurabh Sirohiya and Johncie Correia.
The winners of the 36 categories were announced by acclaimed chef, author and television presenter, Nadiya Hussain MBE, in an exciting Awards ceremony at BAFTA, London on Tuesday 16 May 2023. The ceremony was also live-streamed on the competition’s YouTube channel and was watched by an audience across the globe.
“Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year continues to tell the world’s most important food stories as we adjust again to a new normal. War in Europe, climate change, soaring inflation all to be grappled with,” says Phil Turnbull, CEO of APAL, owner of Pink Lady and headline sponsor of the Awards since 2011. “But at the same time, we continue to grow, forage, cook, eat, celebrate, gather together, feast. Every year, the incredible winning images act as a witness to the centrality of food in every culture in every people across the globe.”
This year’s global judging panel, tasked with assessing the thousands of entries submitted from over 65 countries across the world, was chaired by legendary food photographer, David Loftus, and included: Krishna Madhaven Pillai, Chief Editor, Better Photography Magazine, Fiona Shields, Head of Photography, Guardian News & Media, Chef Ian Kittichai, Restaurateur, Author & TV Host, Ella Ravilious, Curator, The V&A Museum and Nik Sharma, Cookbook author, Photographer, Columnist.
The exhibition of the 2023 Finalists will be premiering at The Royal Photographic Society, one of the world’s oldest photographic societies, in Bristol, England. The exhibition runs from Saturday 20th May – Sunday 11th June and forms part of Bristol’s ‘World Photography in Focus’ during which a number of top international photography competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Travel Photographer of the Year, will be exhibiting in the city.
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