Name of Artist: Francesco Tonelli Dates of Artist’s Life February 1965- present
Background Francesco Tonelli was born in Italy’s Marche region and raised in Milan. Tonelli is a self taught photographer. Before he became a professional photographer he was a culinary chef in Italy, France, Canada, and Switzerland. In 1987, Tonelli moved to Hyde Park in New York and attended the Culinary Institute of America as a culinary chef. He began his photography career working as a food stylist. Style : Tonelli’s artwork resembles Neoclassical art. In his photographs he depicts the simplicity and elegance of food. His art is well balanced and filled with contrasting colors. His work is so vibrant and realistic that viewers can almost feel the water droplets on the vegetables or the texture of the raInbow chard. Tonelli’s goal is to make food look visually appealing to the human eye. His work possesses intelligence and nobility that Tonelli strives to achieve.
Philosophy : Francesco Tonelli philosophy is to show the world the simplicities of food. He is a chef so he understands food and nutrition but he tries to share it with the world through his photography. Not only does Tonelli photograph food but he usually cooks the food or prepares it before capturing its beauty. Tonelli is trying to say that nutrition is beautiful through food. His culinary background brought him to where he is today.
Influences: Tonelli has inspired me to look closer at the simple things and nature. He captures the texture of the food and color which I tried to accomplish. I also tried to make my photographs look as vibrant as his are. He also has influenced me by how his backgrounds contrast with the objects. His artwork is simple but very well composed which taught this me that beautiful things do not have to necessarily be complicated.
Compare and Contrast: The hardest aspect of this project for me was trying to capture lighting similar to Tonelli’s. In the Avocado the flesh of the vegetable in my image is brighter than that in Tonelli's. The Asparagus in my image has purple tops in Tonelli’s they are green. I think I captured the lighting in this photograph well. The Rainbow Chard in my image is different colors than Tonelli's but I captured the contrasting red and green well.
Personal Artist Statement: The avocado image exemplifies asymmetrical balance. My chard leaf shows emphasis on the red stem. The chard’s red veins also remind me of patterns and leading lines. The asparagus contrasts well with the white paper. I enjoyed trying to imitate Tonelli’s work.