Commensality, or ‘the practice of eating together’.

This project documents every single breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner & dinner I was privileged to enjoy (and sometimes endure) getting to know friends, family, lovers and strangers alike better whilst examining identities and building relationships through the sharing of food.

“Eating together has become uncommon for many in a world defined by commuting and odd working hours, by fragmented families and by the ubiquity of convenience foods“

Very few of these photographs are technically my own as it’s the friendly and cooperative establishment staff who are asked to press the button, other times the self timer -or a total stranger- does the work.

The project will run through 2025 but this website will only show some of the photographs as the project is slated to produce a printed work after completion.

Tech specs: photographed with a Minolta AFZ Quartz Date and Arista Edu Ultra 200 film rated at 100. Developed at Graination and scanned with a Noritsu HS-1800 film scanner.

Further reading:

We Are Who We Eat With: Food, Distinction, and Commensality by Harry G. West on The MIT Press Reader

What Is Commensality? A Critical Discussion of an Expanding Research Field by Håkan Jönsson, Maxime Michaud, Nicklas Neuman on the National Library of Medicine

Commensality: From Everyday Food to Feast by Susanne Kerner, Cynthia Chou, Morten Warmind at Bloomsbury

Wider perspective & opinion:

The Hidden Lives of Modern Foods by Zoë Kopp-Weber on The MIT Press Reader

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Michael Bourdain (free eBook – long read)