News / Custard
Primary school dinner lady features in prestigious food photography awards
This photograph of a dinner lady at Ashton Vale Primary School preparing custard for lunch featured alongside images of food from across the globe at the world’s leading celebration of the art of food photography and film.
Titled School Custard and featuring Jane Gilmore, it was taken by Bristol-based photographer Rob Wicks and was highly acclaimed in the Philip Harben Award for Food in Action category at the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2018.
The photo was unveiled in the finalists’ exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London at an evening hosted by television presenter and chef Prue Leith.
is needed now More than ever
The photo is on display at he Mall Galleries in London – photo by Rob Wicks
With more than 8,000 images entered from 60 countries, Andy Macdonald from Pink Lady said that “the competition was fierce… and the standard was exceptional”.
He added: “Rob’s shot stood out from the rest in its category, however, for the way in which he made the subject matter so fascinating and distinctive.”
Explaining his photo, Rob said: “The bell’s gone. Children are starting to queue outside the dining hall. It’s crumble today. There must be custard. A school food tradition spanning generations is upheld by Jane Gilmore at Ashton Vale Primary School.”
Rob took the photo a couple of years ago while doing a photography job for The School Food Plan, a charity that promotes smarter thinking and healthier eating for more school children across the UK.
Most of the menu that he photographed that day comprised modern, fresh, healthy dishes. “But it seems the infamous institution of school custard lives on regardless of any new agenda,” Rob told Bristol24/7. “All things in moderation as they say!”
Jane Gilmore was working against the clock to get the custard ready before the dinner bell rang.
“As with all real-life photography, there’s a large element of skill and a large element of luck,” Rob said. “I was in the right place at the right moment just as she poured the custard.
“It wasn’t until I was able to view the shots on-screen afterwards that I realised how perfect the timing was – with the steam and the bubbles both visible in the flowing custard, and the look of pressure and concentration on Jane’s face.
“In all my work – both food photography and filmmaking – I make storytelling my central priority. Without it we just produce wallpaper.
“So it was a joy to discover I’d created an image that told its own story, and one that connected vividly with the school dinner memories of so many.”
Rob also had two other shortlisted entries in this year’s competition:
‘The market gardener and his rhubarb’ – All his life Tim Edwards has been growing fruit and vegetables in his Cumbrian market garden. At eighty and in his wheelchair he still sits in the sunshine trimming the freshly harvested rhubarb. Photographed for the Westmorland Family during a video shoot with local jam producer, Wild & Fruitful. Workington, Cumbria, UK. © Rob Wicks 2018 All rights reserved
‘Black scabbardfish and bait’ – A fresh catch of black scabbardfish from the deep coastal waters of Madeira. This morsel of bait still in the teeth of a dead fish makes for uncomfortable viewing. Even in the fishmonger’s sink, the fight appears to go on. © Rob Wicks 2018 All rights reserved.
For more information about Rob’s work, visit www.eatpictures.wordpress.com. Main photo © Rob Wicks 2018 All rights reserved.
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
