I love garlic. To cook with. To eat. And now, to photograph.
You might have noticed that garlic – a full bulb or just a few cloves – sneaks into a lot of my food images. I never knew how much I would enjoy making pictures of garlic until recently, when I began diving into food photography. The washi-like texture of its ivory skin, the ragged curl of its stalk. It is just beautiful. And I am not alone in my love of the stinking rose. The curious shape of its bulbs have inspired Greek physicians, Russian architects and art nouveau artists. It has been said to cure everything from cancer to heart disease to the common cold. It might even help find you a mate.
“Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime.” ~ Anthony Bourdain
Garlic, a member of the lily family, has been used in cooking for thousands of years. And why not — it goes with most everything. Occasionally garlic is the main event, but most often it shines as a subtle accent. A note of interest that complements and elevates the star without attracting too much attention to itself. I’ve found this to be true in photography just as it is in cooking.
Cioppino. Fuji GFX-50R, 120mm, 1.7 sec. @ f/22, ISO 320, 4-image stack
"It's a comfort to always find pasta in the cupboard and garlic and parsley in the garden." ~ Alice Waters
Last fall, when I was looking for a winter* crop to plant in the garden, I naturally thought of garlic. (*In Northern California, we just call winter “the rainy season.”) It seemed relatively easy to grow. Poke a hole in the ground, drop a clove in (pointy side up), cover, fertilize, forget. Sure enough, this spring the garlic began to sprout right along with the tulips, daffodils and other early risers. (And, bonus, deer don’t eat garlic).
Fuji GFX 50R, 120mm, 1/320 @ f/5.6, ISO 800.
It fills me with wonder to watch a plant emerge from a seed (or a clove) weeks or months after I stuck it in the ground. What I didn’t expect was how much I would enjoy photographing the leek-like stalks and leaves of the new garlic plants as they grow. Leaves twist and turn as they reach for the sun, creating an abstract forest inches above the ground. A subtle aroma hangs over the bed. Morning dew bejewels the leaves, tiny emeralds sparkling in the sun. There is something magical and new to see each day.
Music Forest, Fuji GFX 50R, 120mm, 1/170 sec. @ f/5, ISO 320
These images are of the stalks of a hardneck variety of garlic, called “Music,” that was one of the few remaining when I got around to purchasing garlic seed last year. I didn’t realize how many varieties of garlic there are — or how far in advance you had to order seed cloves — until I decided to plant some last fall. By the time I got around to it, most varieties were sold out. Which certainly made it easier to select. Now is the time to order planting cloves for this fall to get the best selection and variety. But there are too many choices and too little space. I can’t decide. Hardneck or softneck? Silverskin, Artichoke or Elephant? Porcelain or Purple Stripe? Turban, Rocambole, Creole? And within each category there are still more choices to make, endless varieties with intriguing names. Island Star. Georgian Fire. Godfather’s Italian. Redneck Wild. I want to grow them all. Aglio, Ajo, Ail ….oh my!
Fuji GFX 50R, 120mm, 1/5 @ f/16, ISO 100
Fuji GFX 50R, 120mm, 1/60 @ f/4, ISO 100