The cult of celebrity is alive and well today as it ever was, following up on common people’s obsessions with the events in the lives of those not-so-common. Where do they shop? Who are they friends with? What do they wear? And eat? This last thing is the topic in the art of Still Life. Mixing popular culture and Old Masters, bringing celebrity diets on a level we’ve never seen before – giving us a fresh look at the eating habits of the likes of Donald Trump, Beyoncé, Usain Bolt and Jackie Kennedy, among others.
"To visualize the unusual diets of celebrities or famous personalities is to transform legends into astonishing Reality."
Heidi Klum – "80/20 Diet"
The regimen, followed by many celebrities, consists of eating ultra-healthily 80% of the time and indulging for the remaining 20%—maintaining balance without the risk of yo-yo dieting. (As featured on DW TV Euromaxx).
Jacqueline Kennedy – "Pearl Beauty Diet"
According to White House lore, her disciplined regimen consisted of a single baked potato stuffed with Beluga caviar and sour cream, eaten once a day—pairing extreme caloric restriction with royal luxury.
Usain Bolt – "Chicken McNuggets Diet"
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt revealed an unexpected dietary secret in his autobiography: Chicken McNuggets. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Bolt consumed 100 nuggets a day, breaking three world records in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay—all fuelled by fast food.
Princess of Denmark – "Perfect Portions Diet"
Known for her impeccable style, grace and poise, the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark doesn’t ever put as much as a foot wrong. Before her wedding, Mary was widely rumoured to take up the ‘perfect portions’ diet – eating what you want, but in smaller, ‘perfect’ portions.
Sophia Loren – "Pasta Diet"
Italian actress and Accademy Award Sophia Loren once said of her svelte figure, “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti,” and if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for us.
Karl Lagerfeld – "The Lagerfeld Diet"
Driven by the desire to wear the ultra-slim silhouettes of Hedi Slimane, the legendary Chanel designer devoted himself to a strict regimen tailored by Dr. Jean-Claude Houdret. Fueled by steamed vegetables and Diet Coke, he shed 80 lbs (36 kg) in 13 months and published the bestselling book The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.
Donald J Trump – "Fast Food Diet"
Most of this man’s diet consists of junk food eaten at the comfort of his own desk, the richness of it further emphasized by the lush red in the composition.
Kim Kardashian – "Atkins Diet"
The protein-rich diet, which was created by Dr. Robert Atkins, eliminates carbs but encourages dieters to not concern themselves with counting calories.
Lady Gaga – "Baby Food Diet"
The singer has allegedly been dieting on baby food to stay slim during her world tour. The already tiny star has kept feasting with this low-calorie food to maintain her slight physique.
Albert Einstein – "Vegetarian Diet"
The German born genius, physicist, wacky-haired philosopher of science was a vegetarian for a portion of his life. He was advised by his doctor to cut meat from his diet. At this point, Einstein was in his seventies.
Matthew McConaughey – "Protein Diet"
For the role played in the movie "Dallas Buyers Club" that earned him the Oscar award, the Australian actor followed a strict plan that led him to lose more than 20 kg. The diet consists mainly inFor his role that Chicken's breast, tapioca pudding, egg white and diet Coke
Mariah Carey – "Purple Diet"
Mariah Carey reportedly followed the "Purple Diet" to shed her post-pregnancy weight: three days a week, she consumed exclusively purple foods rich in antioxidants, such as plums, grapes, and eggplants.
Henry VIII – "Banquet Diet"
While commoners in the 16th century subsisted on stewed vegetables and pulses, Tudor courtiers were served daily banquets exceeding 5,000 calories—mainly consisting of roasted pork, chicken, rabbit, and lamb, accompanied by fruits and wine (as water was considered unsafe to drink).
Kate moss – "Hollywood Diet"
Alcohol & cigarettes.
Charles Saatchi – "Eggs diet"
As reported by the Mail, for nine months Charles Saatchi ate only eggs - three for breakfast, three for lunch and three for supper. His ex-wife Nigella Lawson described the 76-year-old's regimen as a 'completely mad eggs, eggs and more eggs diet' - but it had the desired effect: he's shed an impressive four stone in nine months.
Lord Byron – "Romantic poet's diet"
“. . . I would rather not exist than be large.” Lord Byron, as many people in the eighteenth century, was expected to look neat and elegant, and have a natural shape. Byron’s mother always made sure he wore nice clothes. He told friends that he would rather not exist than be large and to keep his weight down often ate biscuits and drank soda water or potatoes drenched in vinegar. To further control his weight, he was known to wear six coats while exercising to sweat out excess water.
Beyoncé Knowles – "Master Cleanse Diet"
To rapidly lose weight for her role in Dreamgirls, Beyoncé followed the extreme liquid "Master Cleanse" regimen: zero solid food, surviving solely on water mixed with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.
Simon Cowell – "Life enhancing"
Big box full of exotic fruits shipped via airfreight, which he uses to make fresh smoothies everyday: pineapples, strawberries, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, oranges, mangos, avocados, etc. Big tank of milk, which he uses to bathe in, and vitamin drops.
Bill Clinton – "Cabbage diet"
Unlimited amount of cabbage soup to mix with other vegetables
Gwyneth Paltrow – "Strict detox diet"
Raw and steamed vegetables including carrots, broccoli, onions, chickpeas, lentils, and almonds, paired with nut and lentil pâté, room-temperature lemon water, and green tea.
Cornaro – "Sober Life Diet"
400gr of solid food or eggs and 500ml of red wine
"When bizarre Celebrity Diets become Caravaggio-like photographic Still Lifes"
-Widewalls-
Still Diets
Partially eaten food, often falling off the plates and even the table, gives a sense of reality to the images, as if Lady Gaga had, in fact, just sat down to eat her strict diet of baby food earlier that day. During the developing process, another substantial inspiration came from the artworks of Dutch’s artist from the Gold Age, researching and studying those elements as symbols of vanity, somehow connected to our everyday life. The result is a mash-up of old and new, baroque and modern.
"Each image consists of a table suspended in a black void, upon which elegant silverware, relevant decorative artifacts, and the food in question lay."
-Vice-
The story behind
“Back in 2014 I’ve started working on the Still Diets series for the first time. Yesterday as today, the subjects and the story portrayed with these photos are in vogue as never before. The incredible work produced by the Old Masters of painting, especially Caravaggio, served as starting point. The importance of lights in every rim of my virtual canvas is a fundamental element of the composition. During the developing process another substantial inspiration came from the artworks of Dutch’s artist from the Gold Age, researching and studying those elements as symbols of vanity. The result is a mash-up of old and new, baroque and modern.”
“To visualize the unusual diets of celebrities or famous personalities is to transform legends into astonishing reality. Melting the legendary diets of public figures into baroque, still-life photographs that both bring these mythical anecdotes to life and aggrandize them further.
Each image consists of a table suspended in a black void, upon which elegant silverware, relevant decorative artifacts, and the food in question lay. Lit from above, each still life gains a dramatic, painterly feel, further transforming the banality of the food items into relics of eccentricity.
With their lighting, messy composition, and the overabundance of food and expensive trinkets, the images feel somewhat hedonistic, as if Bannino is adopting a critical position towards the lifestyles of the people we idolize. But the photographer believes that he is not working from a position of cynicism or criticism, he is merely following a historical art tradition in his works.
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