March 20, 2024 • 33 mins
Welcome back to another episode that’s going to sprinkle your day with creativity and inspire your journey, no matter what field you're in! Today, we're chatting with the incredibly talented Emilie Fosnocht, a food and prop stylist who's turning everyday meals into art. Emilie's journey from Philadelphia to the bustling streets of London and back has filled her with insights and experiences that she's here to share with us. So, buckle up as we dive into the world of food styling, prop designing, and the power of pursuing your passions.
About Our GuestMeet Emilie Fosnocht, a dynamic food and prop stylist whose roots near Philadelphia's rich culture paved the way for her artistic journey. Her adventure took an exciting turn when she moved to London for college at Goldsmiths, significantly shaping her creative sensibilities. With a mission to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, Emilie aims to inspire with her behind-the-scenes magic in food styling and prop designing, proving that creativity knows no bounds.
Episode Highlights:
- The Influence of Philly
- Q: How did Philadelphia shape your aesthetic?
- A: The diversity and richness of Philly's food scene deeply influenced Emilie's creative outlook.
- The London Leap
- Q: What prompted your move to London for college?
- A: A desire for alignment with her creative spirit led Emilie to Goldsmiths, London.
- Textile Design to Food Styling
- Q: How did you transition from textile design to food and prop styling?
- A: Emilie's journey was fueled by her quest for a career that resonated with her creative soul, leading her to food styling.
- The Art of Food Styling
- Q: What misconceptions did you have about food styling?
- A: Emilie discusses the learning curve in food styling and the unique techniques involved.
Key Takeaways:
- The importance of following your passion, even if it leads you across the globe.
- How diverse experiences enrich your creative skills.
- The underestimated art and technique behind food styling.
Follow Emilie on Instagram at @EmilyFoz and dive into her visually stunning world of food and prop styling.
If Emilie's journey inspired you, share this episode with a friend who’s looking for a creative spark.
Today's chat with Emilie Fosnocht reminds us that the path to finding what we love is rarely straight but always worth it. Her journey from Philadelphia to London and into the realms of food styling shows us the beauty of embracing change and pursuing passion. Remember, creativity is not just in the art we make, but in the lives, we lead. Stay inspired, and until next time, keep creating, dreaming, and being uniquely you.
Savory Shot Shownote: https://austinfoodguide.com/2024/03/19/emilie-fosnocht
Instagram: www.instragram.com/mica.mccook
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thesavoryshotpodcast
Would you like to be a guest on the show? Email us at podcast@austinfoodguide.com for more information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mica (00:00):
Welcome.
(00:01):
To the 44th episode of The Savory Shot.
I'm your host with the most, Mica McCook.
I'm a food photographerbased out of Austin, Texas.
If this is your first time joiningus, The Savory Shot is a podcast
where we dive deep into the art andsoul of food photography and the
(00:23):
stories of those who work within it.
First things first, thank you for joiningwhat I like to call the hot mess express.
You could have been anywheredoing anything, but you're here
with me and that means a lot.
So thank you.
But y'all, I'mma get right into it.
Cuz today's guest is the sweetest,kindest, and most wonderful human being.
(00:46):
I present, Emily Fosnocht.
Y'all, Emily is a food and propstylist with roots in Philadelphia.
Her work is as rich and diverseas the city's culinary scene.
Emily is a graduate ofGoldsmiths in London.
And her journey from textiledesigner to food and prop styling
at Anthropology to freelancingshowcases her versatile talent.
(01:13):
She champions the art of visualstorytelling, whether it's through
a delicious cocktail or a beautifulflat lay of a dinner table.
Y'all, this episode will leaveyou so inspired but before we
get into that, y'all grab yourcoffee or a tea or a cocktail.
It's five o'clock somewhereand let's start the show.
(02:13):
I'm just gonna start off by saying, I'msuper duper excited that you're here.
Thank you so much for being a guest on theshow, for sitting in your car and having
this wonderful conversation with me.
Emilie (02:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
I am so impressed with podcast,it seems like a huge undertaking.
So I'm excited to be here.
Mica (02:35):
Oh, man, I want to dive right in if you're ready to jump on in.
You grew up outside of Philadelphiaand it's known for its rich culture.
How did this environmentinfluence your entry into the
world of food and prop styling?
Emilie (02:53):
Yeah, I am from about 45 minutes outside of Philly.
Paoli, Malvern area.
I grew up taking the train and startingin high school, like every weekend, if
not more for art classes or for punkshows and just to walk around a city.
Have lived there full time since 2013.
(03:14):
It's a great city.
I recommend anyone whohasn't been there to go.
Definitely a great city for the food.
How has that influenced my aesthetic?
The range of food and aestheticsthat you see in Philly has made
its way into my subconscious.
There's all kinds of food.
There's the Italian market.
There's Reading Terminal market, whichhas anything from the Jewish butchers
(03:38):
to the Amish bakeries to the dairies.
Mica (03:43):
It's like taking a trip around the world when you.
I got my start in food photographywith a visit to Reading Terminal.
I imagine like growing up in Philly whereyou just are exposed to so many different
cultures, so many different foods.
You went to Goldsmith College in London.
I want to hear more about thatbecause what inspired that move?
(04:04):
You're in Philly, you graduated school,you decided to go to college in London.
Tell me what influenced that decision.
Emilie (04:11):
I originally went to a really small fine arts school outside of
Boston called Montserrat College of Art.
So I essentially did like thefoundation year and then I did
the first two years there and itreally, it wasn't the right fit.
A professor of mine who I wasreally close with, had said, Oh,
(04:31):
it's a shame there's this schoolthat your work fits perfectly with.
It's in another country, it'scalled Goldsmiths in London.
And I had never heard of it at the time.
I looked it up and it was like, ohyeah, that's really cool, but it
is a shame it's in another country.
Didn't think anything of it.
Anytime I researched an artist that Iwas into, they have gone to Goldsmiths.
(04:54):
And then I applied.
Got in, and then I was like, you knowwhat, I feel that I'll regret not going.
So I made it work, got the visa, went.
Best decision I ever made.
Loved it.
And lived there for three yearsfor school and then stayed an
additional two years, worked in anart gallery immediately out of school.
So back to Philadelphia after that.
Mica (05:14):
Back to Philadelphia.
How did your family react whenyou're like, Hey, guess what?
I'm going to school in London.
Emilie (05:19):
That's a good question.
My parents are verysupportive which is awesome.
They weren't stoked about megoing so far away, especially
I guess at such a young age.
But I put together a little presentationof this is where I will live.
This is how much money I have to savefor my visa and all these things.
And I remember after presenting this tomy parents, my mom said I guess it just
(05:42):
sounds like you're going to do this.
Mica (05:44):
And I just want to say that it's like the most responsible thing.
Like making a presentation,covering the list, this is where
I'm going to be living, this iswhere I'm going to be working, this
is where I'm going to be going.
That is the most grown up thing ever.
Emilie (06:02):
Yeah.
Mica (06:02):
That's probably why they were like, I guess you're going to do this.
They were like, I havenothing to argue with.
Like this is laid out pretty nicely.
Emilie (06:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I hadn't thought about it ina while, but I guess it was.
Thankfully there wasn't too much pushback.
Maybe they remember it differently.
I don't know.
Mica (06:20):
I moved to San Angelo which is just like three and a half hours
Northwest of Austin, and my momthought that I was moving to London.
Like she really thought I wasmoving to another country.
I'm like, Nah, Ma, there are actualpeople, like, actually moving out
of the country, You can calm down.
What surprised you the mostwhen you moved to London?
Emilie (06:41):
Almost everything.
I literally had never left the countrybefore I had to get my passport.
Went to get the visa to move over there.
It was definitely like a culture shock.
Mica (06:51):
I've only been out of the country once, and it was to Madrid, Spain.
I was surprised that people didthe double kiss thing on the
cheek, like that threw me off.
But I was like, that's my personalspace, like you need to back up.
I ate so much food andnone of it was healthy.
There was a lot of pastry,it's a lot of deliciousness.
So you got your degree in fine art,and you eventually started as a
(07:17):
textile designer at Anthropologie.
I'm super curious how that connectedto the world of food and prop styling.
Emilie (07:29):
Yeah.
Textile design was certainly not for me.
I truly just needed a job when I graduatedcollege and moved back to Philly.
I did have a skillset that wasrelevant to textile design.
So when I first moved back toPhilly I knew someone who had a
small textile design studio andthey were looking to bring someone
(07:52):
on so I originally worked there.
For Anthropologie, I was doing textiledesign for the dresses and skirts team.
Lovely, team of people.
A lot of British people on that team,coincidentally, which I did love
since I had recently lived in the UK.
But I think anything fashionrelated really wasn't for me.
You're in Photoshop all day andI'm not really a tech person.
(08:17):
I literally would dream withthe Photoshop guides up.
So it wasn't for me.
My best friend from high school actually,at the time, was a prop stylist on the
Anthropologie home team, and she hadsaid, We're looking for other stylists,
I think you would be good at this.
It came really naturally to me.
You're thinking about all the thingsyou learn with the fine art background,
(08:37):
which is like composition light shadowsand it's quite sculptural, which I
had done decent amount of in school.
Like with, in terms of the styling on set.
I loved it and the photostudio was awesome there.
So when a full time position opened up,I moved over in there and that was also
how I got into food styling because Idid not know food styling was a job.
(08:59):
And they need more foodthan anyone realizes.
They sell a ton of dinnerware.
And it needs to get propped out with food.
Like I've always been interested infood cooked from a very young age.
My dad is the cook in our family.
And then his mom, my grandmotherlearned to cook from them.
And worked in restaurants.
through college.
So it was really, I was drawnto doing the food there.
(09:20):
And then when I found out that you couldjust be a food stylist, it was like, yes.
I always say that I moonlighted as a foodstylist for my last two years at Anthro.
I was there for five years total.
I started assisting a more senior foodstylist in Philadelphia, Lisa Russell.
She is awesome.
And a great teacher, extremely talentedand so generous with her knowledge.
(09:43):
So I assisted for her, was stilldoing as much as possible at Anthro.
Then I started taking on jobs of myown, people would reach out to me,
so I would take them and I wouldliterally use all my PTO days.
I was not taking vacation.
I was just using my PTO to workother jobs as a food stylist.
Mica (10:02):
You were talking earlier about how you got your, start in
prop styling with anthropology andthat your friend was like, I think
you would be really good at this.
What did she say that wasconvincing to you that made you go?
Okay.
Yeah, I think I would be good at this.
Emilie (10:19):
She had actually tried to get me into that studio like two other times
not pressing me super hard, just hadbeen like, Oh, you're back in Philly.
Do you want to do this?
And it's no, I got this textile job.
At a point when I was really unhappydoing the print design, I got coffee
with her and a photographer whoI still am friends with and I was
(10:39):
like, okay, so what is this job?
She was like, it's basically you got tomake everything look like a million bucks.
That's the job.
They just.
were so nice and they made it seem fun.
It was that and partially my misery of notbeing in the right place with the textile
design that I was like, I'll try this.
I think it isn't a job thatyou really understand until
(11:01):
you're on a set and you do it.
Mica (11:02):
You mentioned earlier about how it felt so natural and so easy.
When I got into foodphotography, it just clicked.
Like everything just made sense.
Was it the same feeling foryou when you were getting into
prop styling and food styling?
Emilie (11:19):
Yeah it definitely was the same feeling.
I feel really lucky that this team ofstylists at Anthropologie is so talented.
There was a senior stylist, Andythere who really trained me, like
on the first sets I was ever on.
And he also came from a fine artsbackground and a little bit of a
teaching background, I believe.
And he was an incredible teacher,just the way that he explained things.
(11:43):
He used like the visual sort of likeformal arts language that I was really
used to talking in from art school.
He would just explain things ina way that was really helpful.
And my brain just works thatway thinking about composition.
Prop styling, where you're stillthinking about light and composition
and camera angle combined with foodand everything in that world was
(12:08):
like a really natural transition.
And just like a very fun challenge.
It's not to say that Ididn't have to learn things.
There's so much.
She'll learn and I am stillconstantly learning, but it
is always a fun challenge.
Like I like the challengesthat occur in this job.
They don't feel unnatural to me,
Mica (12:29):
You mentioned earlier about when you transitioned into food styling and that
was like, the real peanut butter and jellyfor you that just connected immediately.
Was there a misconception thatyou had about food styling?
And if so, what was that misconception?
Emilie (12:51):
I don't think there was a misconception because I guess,
naively, I didn't really knowabout the job until I did it.
I guess the biggest misconceptionwould be that you are going to
make the food the same way thatyou would prepare food to eat it.
When I first started doing things,I was just cooking the food exactly
the way I would cook it to eat itand then the more you learn you're
(13:13):
like no like you're going to do thisdifferently if it's for a photo.
I would say longevity on set like it'sgoing to sit on set longer than it's
going to sit where if you cooked itand are going to eat it right away.
I got the Food Styling Bible.
Mica (13:27):
By, uh, Dolores Custer.
Emilie (13:28):
Dolores Custer.
It's truly the best book.
When I found out about the book,immediately purchased a copy.
And I think the weekend I got it,read it cover to cover, which is
a little weird because it's likealmost an encyclopedia type of book.
And I still will go back if I have freetime sometimes and just read a section
(13:49):
or even some of the little storiesthat she has from her career in there.
If I'm working with a food that I'venever worked with before or a situation
or even just a food I haven't workedwith in a while before I shoot, I'll
go back and reference that and be like,what were the tips she had, for that?
Even though she wrote the booka while ago at this point, the
information in it is super relevant.
(14:09):
And there's it's not anotherresource like it out there.
Mica (14:13):
I tell people that all the time, like new photographers who
are emailing me and they're like,what are your some resources?
What are some classes?
You should have this bookjust to, just for reference.
Take me back to the first shootwhere you were the lead stylist.
What do you remember about that?
Emilie (14:32):
My first shoot was for Wawa and it was even more PA with a basketball player
from the Philly, the 76ers was our team.
Wawa does like breakfast sandwiches to go.
I don't know how they got my informationto be completely honest with you.
But I got this email for thejob and I was so excited.
(14:52):
The two main things I remember from thatshoot was one, it was shot in the house
of this basketball player and it was like,houses like this exist in Philadelphia.
This is so nice.
And then people were very excited thatI steamed the cheese on the sandwich
which made me feel like, okay, good.
(15:14):
They don't know that this is my firstgig as the lead food stylist, like
people think I know what I'm doing.
Cause to get like the perfectamount on the breakfast sandwich
with those little squares of slicedcheese, had my steamer was ready.
It was a video, which is always.
much more chaotic tome anyways than stills.
(15:34):
But those are my main memories thatI was like, wow, where am I, this,
I can't believe I'm in Philadelphiaand being happy that people were
impressed that I steamed the cheese.
Mica (15:43):
I want to take it to people who inspire you the most in this industry.
You listed, Lisa Russell that youassisted and Dolores Custer, RIP,
who wrote the Food Styling Book,who in this industry inspires you?
Emilie (16:00):
So many people, it will be impossible.
to name all of them.
The first person comingto mind is Claire Baker.
I'm lucky to call her a friend of mine.
She's mostly a prop stylist, butshe's full time at Anthropologie.
She's a senior stylist there.
And she is inspiring becausethere is nothing she can't do.
She can go on any set and she doesa lot of food work for them as well.
(16:22):
So she can do props.
She can do food.
She can do large scale interior.
She can do small little things.
And she can do videos, she can do stills.
Anytime I see her new work, I'malways like, it's just stunning.
Kelsey Windmiller is a stylist who doesboth food and props, which is, it is a
little more common in Philadelphia, Ifind than anywhere else, just, I think
(16:44):
it being a slightly smaller industry, alot of people are more nimble and go back
and forth between the two, which in NewYork is definitely not a thing I noticed.
But Kelsey is super talented.
When I first went freelance after leavingAnthro, she was really supportive as well.
Lisa food stylist who is in Philly now,who you have also interviewed on your
(17:07):
podcast and who assisted for Dolores,she is so talented, so inspiring.
I loved her episode with you.
Mica (17:17):
That's a pretty bomb list.
Lisa Homa, she's just the sweetest person.
So shout out to, to Lisa.
If there's anything that I love about thisindustry is just, it doesn't matter like
where everybody is, you know someone inanother city, another state and there's
that support, you're like, Oh, I loveso and so's work, they're just amazing.
(17:38):
So I was looking over yourquestionnaire and something that
you put on here that I'm like, Iwant to talk about this too now.
You mentioned schlepping.
And you said, I feel likeno one talks about this.
I want to hear more about that.
what is schlepping?
I think I don't know what schleppingIt's not But for not not for me, I hope
(18:00):
I might be the only one who doesn'tknow what schlepping is But I okay.
Let me tell you what I think it meansso then you can tell me if i'm right.
Okay, so schlepping I think rollingup your sleeves and just getting in
there and and getting nitty and grittywith, with whatever you're doing.
Am I right?
Emilie (18:17):
Like a little bit, I think I.
My understanding of the word is that it'slike carrying around a bunch of stuff.
It's the, yeah, that's like a schlep, likeyou gotta bring a bunch of stuff with you.
Mica (18:30):
I remember a while back I had a convo with Kristina Wolter, from Girl
Gone Grits, and we did a couple oftest shoots and the first test shoot we
did together, she had like five boxesof stuff that she was bringing in.
And I was like, what the hell?
Why do you have all this stuff?
What's going on?
She used most of everything.
How big is your kit?
Emilie (18:51):
My kit and full, I'm almost never rolling up to a job with every
single piece, I repack it for each job,depending on what I'm going to need.
I use a, I think it's called likethe T Stack, and it's made by DeWalt,
like the tool company, and it's a toolkit, and it's on wheels, and they make
different containers that like, stack up.
(19:11):
They stack into eachother and they clip in, so
you can bring as many boxesof equipment as you need.
Sometimes it's, you have suitcases,sometimes you have additional bags
and boxes because there might notbe a kitchen where the photo shoot
is and I obviously need to cook.
So the kit varies in size.
(19:32):
Bare minimum I'm going to bringa small, like a toolbox size kit.
And that's it.
It's super minimal.
That's if I know I'm going somewherewith a really fully stock kitchen
that I have been to before.
Even if someone tells me there is a fullkitchen, I've learned to not believe
what equipment they're going to havethere until I've seen it and been there
(19:52):
because someone might say full kitchenand that just means they have a fridge
and a stove and they don't have a standmixer, they don't have baking pans.
So the kit can vary in size and then youhave to bring a ton of food with you too.
I like to bring up schlepping whenpeople reach out to me about becoming
a food stylist because I think someonesays, Oh, I could be a food stylist.
(20:12):
This seems like glamorousin some way because you're
making photos for a magazine.
And it's a lot of really hard work.
It's a lot of running around.
It's a lot of carrying heavy bags in andout, and going through service elevators
sometimes to get into places because youhave so much equipment and so much stuff.
Mica (20:35):
For this mentorship that I was a part of recently, Amplify, we were
each given a project to produce.
I had this huge concept and the foodstylist that I've worked with who was also
a guest on the podcast, Olivia Caminiti.
She just had so much food that shewas bringing in and I was like, Oh,
(20:56):
yeah.
not, it's not that big of asurprise to me because I've been
in it for, a few years like you.
But yet, it always still surprises mehow much food is involved in, in a shoot.
So it's imagine a cookbook shoot.
Whenever a client reaches out to you or aphotographer reaches out to you and they
tell you the concept and you're planning,are you thinking about, what ingredients
(21:21):
are you going to need to gather?
Are you forming that in your mindas they're describing it to you?
How much information do you usuallyneed to know before you have a full
list of what you're going to be getting?
Emilie (21:33):
I am thinking about those things from the moment I
even consider accepting a job.
And from any conversation thatI have with a client, I'm taking
notes and asking questions.
I feel like I always havethree million questions.
After we have a dialed in shot listand concept and our direction and all
(21:54):
that, I'll make a list and then I'llgo through and work out the quantities.
I love the notes app on my phone becausenow that you can check things off.
I would say food stylingis so much list making.
So the biggest math I do is thecalculations for how much of each item
I'm going to need because the worstthing would be to not have enough
(22:17):
food and that be the issue on set.
Have more than enough and peoplewill take home food or it can get
donated after if there's extra.
But yeah, always thinking about whatI'm going to need, how much I'm going
to need, where I'm going to buy it, howmany days in advance can I buy it, what
stores, what market they're going tohave the best versions of everything.
Huge part of the job.
Mica (22:38):
Oh man how many days does it usually take of prepping?
I guess it depends on the shoot, right?
Emilie (22:45):
Always depends.
All of them probably would be likeone shoot day is one prep day, unless
it's a really complicated shot list.
Maybe it's more than that.
But I would say like a one toone ratio is fairly typical.
I'll have an assistant do the shoppingand then I'll do the cooking prep
or they'll do some of the moregeneral shopping and any like beauty
(23:06):
ingredients, I might be sourcing those.
But about a day for one shoot day.
Mica (23:13):
So I want to close out this interview with, you mentioned on here
that you wanted to talk about the valueof assisting and I think that's such a
great way to close this interview out.
My first question for you in termsof assisting is, why is assisting
so important for this industry?
(23:36):
And how long should a foodstylist consider assisting
before moving on to being a lead?
Emilie (23:42):
Yeah, I think for me, it's a little more of a gray area question
because I had prop styled so longAnthropologie and done lead styling
there and not on food specific shoots.
So just the understanding ofbeing the lead stylist on a
bigger shoot wasn't a new thing.
(24:04):
It was only the food that was new to me.
So yeah, when I got a call for the firstfood job, I felt like it probably depended
on what the shoot was going to be.
I learned what the shoot was going to be.
It was going to be thesebreakfast sandwiches.
I felt like I had assisted onshoots for similar product.
So everything food wise that I wouldneed to be doing, I felt really
(24:27):
comfortable with and being on set.
I felt really comfortable with,so that was an easy decision.
I was really hesitant to like, makethe jump from assisting to being the
lead stylist, as a whole, to startturning down assisting jobs anymore.
Because it felt like, Oh, is there goingto be enough work out there for me?
But it got to the point where it waslike, okay, I'm turning down a lot
(24:50):
of stuff, there's work out there.
Sometimes there are shoots thatdon't go great, especially early on.
If it's a new thing, you might get inthe weeds, but it's all a learning
experience and you do it and it's good.
Mica (25:02):
And some people find that they enjoy the assisting part
more than they enjoy the leading.
They're like, I think I canmake a living doing that.
Like you said before, that it verymuch is a gray area that I guess
it's really based on intuition andknowing within yourself, like asking
yourself why am I not taking it?
(25:24):
and in your case, you were concernedabout, is there enough work out there?
And you found pretty quickly that,yeah, there actually is enough work
out there.
There's more than enough.
If I'm turning jobs down.
Yeah.
That answered my question right there.
Emilie (25:36):
I think you try it out if it doesn't go well, I guess you
wouldn't know you weren't ready.
Mica (25:42):
Yeah, I'm gonna go back to assisting.
I need a little more time.
If I could go back I would haveassisted while I was in school.
That would have been the time to do it.
By the time I finished school, I was,like, ready to hit the ground running.
I was ready to like, be lead.
I had no interest in assisting anybody.
I was, like, I'm 30 something years old.
I just want to get started with my career.
(26:02):
But looking back at it now, I wish thatI had taken the opportunity and the
time to reach out to, photographersand assist them while I was in school.
I feel like there were so many things thatI would have learned then that I had to
learn the hard way as a lead photographer.
(26:25):
Thank goodness for like mentors that areout there now that I can reach out to.
I don't know if it's the same wayas a food stylist and prop stylist.
Emilie (26:33):
Yes.
That's a huge part of it.
Between assisting and being laid isdifferent a little bit for photographers
because you can go to school forso much more of like photography
than you do through food styling.
The school really is so muchassisting with food, but certainly
that business side of things is.
(26:55):
You definitely learned somuch of that from assisting.
I always say that the hardest part of thisjob is not the food styling itself, like
the cooking, the prepping, all of that.
It, the hardest part is the thingsthat don't come as naturally, which
are like the business side of thingsand working with clients, and knowing
(27:15):
how to navigate that those situations.
Mica (27:17):
The business side is definitely something that I've had to grow into.
What has helped you get more comfortable,being in the leads and having that
conversation of the business side?
Emilie (27:32):
Experience and talking with other people in the industry, because a big part
of it for me early on was one experienceand knowing what does this take?
How long is it going to take?
What are the costsinvolved with all of that?
Knowing like industry standards beinglike this is what I want to charge.
Is that crazy or not?
(27:52):
And sometimes you'll talk toanother stylist and they'll
be like, that's too low.
That's going to be so much morework than you think it's going to
be when you know, or they'll say,this is average, things like that.
But experience firsthand withall those things has made me feel
much more comfortable with it.
Like I feel really confidentwhen I look at a shot list and
say, that's too many shots.
We can't do that in a day.
(28:14):
If you're looking for the level of qualitythat I would like to provide, I don't ever
think it's worth sacrificing the qualityto get through more shots in a day.
I just don't.
Mica (28:25):
About two months ago, I was approached by an ice cream brand
and they're like, we want you tophotograph our entire, lineup of
ice creams and we were thinking, itcan be done in a four hour shoot.
Thank God for my theater trainingbecause in my heart I was like
dying of laughter, but I was verytransparent with them and I was like
(28:45):
look that's just not gonna happen.
You sent me these like really high conceptimages of what you want your product,
what you want your shoots to look like.
and, I'm going to tell you that that'snot going to happen in four hours.
Like you have over, I think theyhad like 20 ice cream flavors and
they wanted like different seasons.
(29:07):
They wanted to do like the wholeyear of, Christmas, Halloween,
whatever holiday you can thinkof, they wanted to get photos of.
Emilie (29:15):
Were they a newer brand, can I ask?
Mica (29:17):
They were very like newer, like very small brand.
They said to me we've worked withthe same photographer for about
five years and they could do it.
And I was like, feelingbad for the photographer.
I was like, cause the photographersscrewed in this situation.
But I told them, it's you want thesevery high concept images of like
(29:38):
drips and you want, powder, likepowdered sugar, all these things.
And you have 20 flavors.
It's not going to happen in four hours.
Emilie (29:49):
You're a hundred percent right.
It's a lot of educationfor the client sometimes.
It can be a lot to explain andsometimes hard to convince people.
And sometimes it doesn't work out if theyaren't willing to do all these things.
But it's important to know what questionsto ask and everything that you're saying,
like how many set changes are we doing?
(30:10):
What's the backdrops?
Shot count, super important.
And it is much harder when the client.
doesn't know about those things if theyhaven't done many photo shoots or any
photo shoots with a professional before.
Better to have those questionsbeforehand than find out on set.
So
Mica (30:28):
Yes.
Then find out on set and go.
Mm girl.
We are not gonna do that.
I wanna finish off by thankingyou so much for being on the show.
What do you hope that peoplelearn from today's episode?
Emilie (30:45):
Thank you for having me and what do I hope that people learn?
I guess in terms of if you aren't a foodstylist or you're just more generally
interested about the field, the takeawaycould be, knowing that the food on camera
is not prepared probably the same exactway as you eat it and there's a lot just
so much goes into it behind the scenes.
(31:06):
And some of the best career adviceI've ever gotten was like a stylist
who I learned, assisted for, for a longtime when I was younger would always
say, be like water, which is a BruceLee quote, I think weirdly enough.
That early on, I was always kind ofjust like, okay, like this is just
this thing that he always says.
(31:27):
But now having gained so muchmore experience, I'm like,
that's really good advice.
Don't get set in a certainmindset, be flexible onset.
And with all of your work, it's a lotof creative problem solving this job.
And I think it's good to havegoals and work towards them.
(31:49):
So you're not just being aimless.
I try and assess my work and be criticalof it after the shoot and think, what
could I do differently for next time?
And I think always just be likereally rigorous on yourself.
I think that's important.
Mica (32:03):
I love that, the be like water, that's perfect, Where can
the listeners find you, followyou, stalk you love all your work?
Emilie (32:15):
Yeah.
My Instagram is Emily Foz.
It's Emily with an ie.
And my last name is Fosnocht, but so long.
So just FOZ.
Mica (32:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and if you're in the Phillyarea and you're thinking about
assisting, she's a wonderfulperson to reach out to for advice.
Emilie (32:34):
Yeah.
Hit me up.
Mica (32:35):
Thank you so much for being on the show.
You're just the sweetest,kindest person ever.
Emilie (32:40):
Thank you so much for having me.
Welcome.
(00:01):
To the 44th episode of The Savory Shot.
I'm your host with the most, Mica McCook.
I'm a food photographerbased out of Austin, Texas.
If this is your first time joiningus, The Savory Shot is a podcast
where we dive deep into the art andsoul of food photography and the
(00:23):
stories of those who work within it.
First things first, thank you for joiningwhat I like to call the hot mess express.
You could have been anywheredoing anything, but you're here
with me and that means a lot.
So thank you.
But y'all, I'mma get right into it.
Cuz today's guest is the sweetest,kindest, and most wonderful human being.
(00:46):
I present, Emily Fosnocht.
Y'all, Emily is a food and propstylist with roots in Philadelphia.
Her work is as rich and diverseas the city's culinary scene.
Emily is a graduate ofGoldsmiths in London.
And her journey from textiledesigner to food and prop styling
at Anthropology to freelancingshowcases her versatile talent.
(01:13):
She champions the art of visualstorytelling, whether it's through
a delicious cocktail or a beautifulflat lay of a dinner table.
Y'all, this episode will leaveyou so inspired but before we
get into that, y'all grab yourcoffee or a tea or a cocktail.
It's five o'clock somewhereand let's start the show.
(02:13):
I'm just gonna start off by saying, I'msuper duper excited that you're here.
Thank you so much for being a guest on theshow, for sitting in your car and having
this wonderful conversation with me.
Emilie (02:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
I am so impressed with podcast,it seems like a huge undertaking.
So I'm excited to be here.
Mica (02:35):
Oh, man, I want to dive right in if you're ready to jump on in.
You grew up outside of Philadelphiaand it's known for its rich culture.
How did this environmentinfluence your entry into the
world of food and prop styling?
Emilie (02:53):
Yeah, I am from about 45 minutes outside of Philly.
Paoli, Malvern area.
I grew up taking the train and startingin high school, like every weekend, if
not more for art classes or for punkshows and just to walk around a city.
Have lived there full time since 2013.
(03:14):
It's a great city.
I recommend anyone whohasn't been there to go.
Definitely a great city for the food.
How has that influenced my aesthetic?
The range of food and aestheticsthat you see in Philly has made
its way into my subconscious.
There's all kinds of food.
There's the Italian market.
There's Reading Terminal market, whichhas anything from the Jewish butchers
(03:38):
to the Amish bakeries to the dairies.
Mica (03:43):
It's like taking a trip around the world when you.
I got my start in food photographywith a visit to Reading Terminal.
I imagine like growing up in Philly whereyou just are exposed to so many different
cultures, so many different foods.
You went to Goldsmith College in London.
I want to hear more about thatbecause what inspired that move?
(04:04):
You're in Philly, you graduated school,you decided to go to college in London.
Tell me what influenced that decision.
Emilie (04:11):
I originally went to a really small fine arts school outside of
Boston called Montserrat College of Art.
So I essentially did like thefoundation year and then I did
the first two years there and itreally, it wasn't the right fit.
A professor of mine who I wasreally close with, had said, Oh,
(04:31):
it's a shame there's this schoolthat your work fits perfectly with.
It's in another country, it'scalled Goldsmiths in London.
And I had never heard of it at the time.
I looked it up and it was like, ohyeah, that's really cool, but it
is a shame it's in another country.
Didn't think anything of it.
Anytime I researched an artist that Iwas into, they have gone to Goldsmiths.
(04:54):
And then I applied.
Got in, and then I was like, you knowwhat, I feel that I'll regret not going.
So I made it work, got the visa, went.
Best decision I ever made.
Loved it.
And lived there for three yearsfor school and then stayed an
additional two years, worked in anart gallery immediately out of school.
So back to Philadelphia after that.
Mica (05:14):
Back to Philadelphia.
How did your family react whenyou're like, Hey, guess what?
I'm going to school in London.
Emilie (05:19):
That's a good question.
My parents are verysupportive which is awesome.
They weren't stoked about megoing so far away, especially
I guess at such a young age.
But I put together a little presentationof this is where I will live.
This is how much money I have to savefor my visa and all these things.
And I remember after presenting this tomy parents, my mom said I guess it just
(05:42):
sounds like you're going to do this.
Mica (05:44):
And I just want to say that it's like the most responsible thing.
Like making a presentation,covering the list, this is where
I'm going to be living, this iswhere I'm going to be working, this
is where I'm going to be going.
That is the most grown up thing ever.
Emilie (06:02):
Yeah.
Mica (06:02):
That's probably why they were like, I guess you're going to do this.
They were like, I havenothing to argue with.
Like this is laid out pretty nicely.
Emilie (06:10):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I hadn't thought about it ina while, but I guess it was.
Thankfully there wasn't too much pushback.
Maybe they remember it differently.
I don't know.
Mica (06:20):
I moved to San Angelo which is just like three and a half hours
Northwest of Austin, and my momthought that I was moving to London.
Like she really thought I wasmoving to another country.
I'm like, Nah, Ma, there are actualpeople, like, actually moving out
of the country, You can calm down.
What surprised you the mostwhen you moved to London?
Emilie (06:41):
Almost everything.
I literally had never left the countrybefore I had to get my passport.
Went to get the visa to move over there.
It was definitely like a culture shock.
Mica (06:51):
I've only been out of the country once, and it was to Madrid, Spain.
I was surprised that people didthe double kiss thing on the
cheek, like that threw me off.
But I was like, that's my personalspace, like you need to back up.
I ate so much food andnone of it was healthy.
There was a lot of pastry,it's a lot of deliciousness.
So you got your degree in fine art,and you eventually started as a
(07:17):
textile designer at Anthropologie.
I'm super curious how that connectedto the world of food and prop styling.
Emilie (07:29):
Yeah.
Textile design was certainly not for me.
I truly just needed a job when I graduatedcollege and moved back to Philly.
I did have a skillset that wasrelevant to textile design.
So when I first moved back toPhilly I knew someone who had a
small textile design studio andthey were looking to bring someone
(07:52):
on so I originally worked there.
For Anthropologie, I was doing textiledesign for the dresses and skirts team.
Lovely, team of people.
A lot of British people on that team,coincidentally, which I did love
since I had recently lived in the UK.
But I think anything fashionrelated really wasn't for me.
You're in Photoshop all day andI'm not really a tech person.
(08:17):
I literally would dream withthe Photoshop guides up.
So it wasn't for me.
My best friend from high school actually,at the time, was a prop stylist on the
Anthropologie home team, and she hadsaid, We're looking for other stylists,
I think you would be good at this.
It came really naturally to me.
You're thinking about all the thingsyou learn with the fine art background,
(08:37):
which is like composition light shadowsand it's quite sculptural, which I
had done decent amount of in school.
Like with, in terms of the styling on set.
I loved it and the photostudio was awesome there.
So when a full time position opened up,I moved over in there and that was also
how I got into food styling because Idid not know food styling was a job.
(08:59):
And they need more foodthan anyone realizes.
They sell a ton of dinnerware.
And it needs to get propped out with food.
Like I've always been interested infood cooked from a very young age.
My dad is the cook in our family.
And then his mom, my grandmotherlearned to cook from them.
And worked in restaurants.
through college.
So it was really, I was drawnto doing the food there.
(09:20):
And then when I found out that you couldjust be a food stylist, it was like, yes.
I always say that I moonlighted as a foodstylist for my last two years at Anthro.
I was there for five years total.
I started assisting a more senior foodstylist in Philadelphia, Lisa Russell.
She is awesome.
And a great teacher, extremely talentedand so generous with her knowledge.
(09:43):
So I assisted for her, was stilldoing as much as possible at Anthro.
Then I started taking on jobs of myown, people would reach out to me,
so I would take them and I wouldliterally use all my PTO days.
I was not taking vacation.
I was just using my PTO to workother jobs as a food stylist.
Mica (10:02):
You were talking earlier about how you got your, start in
prop styling with anthropology andthat your friend was like, I think
you would be really good at this.
What did she say that wasconvincing to you that made you go?
Okay.
Yeah, I think I would be good at this.
Emilie (10:19):
She had actually tried to get me into that studio like two other times
not pressing me super hard, just hadbeen like, Oh, you're back in Philly.
Do you want to do this?
And it's no, I got this textile job.
At a point when I was really unhappydoing the print design, I got coffee
with her and a photographer whoI still am friends with and I was
(10:39):
like, okay, so what is this job?
She was like, it's basically you got tomake everything look like a million bucks.
That's the job.
They just.
were so nice and they made it seem fun.
It was that and partially my misery of notbeing in the right place with the textile
design that I was like, I'll try this.
I think it isn't a job thatyou really understand until
(11:01):
you're on a set and you do it.
Mica (11:02):
You mentioned earlier about how it felt so natural and so easy.
When I got into foodphotography, it just clicked.
Like everything just made sense.
Was it the same feeling foryou when you were getting into
prop styling and food styling?
Emilie (11:19):
Yeah it definitely was the same feeling.
I feel really lucky that this team ofstylists at Anthropologie is so talented.
There was a senior stylist, Andythere who really trained me, like
on the first sets I was ever on.
And he also came from a fine artsbackground and a little bit of a
teaching background, I believe.
And he was an incredible teacher,just the way that he explained things.
(11:43):
He used like the visual sort of likeformal arts language that I was really
used to talking in from art school.
He would just explain things ina way that was really helpful.
And my brain just works thatway thinking about composition.
Prop styling, where you're stillthinking about light and composition
and camera angle combined with foodand everything in that world was
(12:08):
like a really natural transition.
And just like a very fun challenge.
It's not to say that Ididn't have to learn things.
There's so much.
She'll learn and I am stillconstantly learning, but it
is always a fun challenge.
Like I like the challengesthat occur in this job.
They don't feel unnatural to me,
Mica (12:29):
You mentioned earlier about when you transitioned into food styling and that
was like, the real peanut butter and jellyfor you that just connected immediately.
Was there a misconception thatyou had about food styling?
And if so, what was that misconception?
Emilie (12:51):
I don't think there was a misconception because I guess,
naively, I didn't really knowabout the job until I did it.
I guess the biggest misconceptionwould be that you are going to
make the food the same way thatyou would prepare food to eat it.
When I first started doing things,I was just cooking the food exactly
the way I would cook it to eat itand then the more you learn you're
(13:13):
like no like you're going to do thisdifferently if it's for a photo.
I would say longevity on set like it'sgoing to sit on set longer than it's
going to sit where if you cooked itand are going to eat it right away.
I got the Food Styling Bible.
Mica (13:27):
By, uh, Dolores Custer.
Emilie (13:28):
Dolores Custer.
It's truly the best book.
When I found out about the book,immediately purchased a copy.
And I think the weekend I got it,read it cover to cover, which is
a little weird because it's likealmost an encyclopedia type of book.
And I still will go back if I have freetime sometimes and just read a section
(13:49):
or even some of the little storiesthat she has from her career in there.
If I'm working with a food that I'venever worked with before or a situation
or even just a food I haven't workedwith in a while before I shoot, I'll
go back and reference that and be like,what were the tips she had, for that?
Even though she wrote the booka while ago at this point, the
information in it is super relevant.
(14:09):
And there's it's not anotherresource like it out there.
Mica (14:13):
I tell people that all the time, like new photographers who
are emailing me and they're like,what are your some resources?
What are some classes?
You should have this bookjust to, just for reference.
Take me back to the first shootwhere you were the lead stylist.
What do you remember about that?
Emilie (14:32):
My first shoot was for Wawa and it was even more PA with a basketball player
from the Philly, the 76ers was our team.
Wawa does like breakfast sandwiches to go.
I don't know how they got my informationto be completely honest with you.
But I got this email for thejob and I was so excited.
(14:52):
The two main things I remember from thatshoot was one, it was shot in the house
of this basketball player and it was like,houses like this exist in Philadelphia.
This is so nice.
And then people were very excited thatI steamed the cheese on the sandwich
which made me feel like, okay, good.
(15:14):
They don't know that this is my firstgig as the lead food stylist, like
people think I know what I'm doing.
Cause to get like the perfectamount on the breakfast sandwich
with those little squares of slicedcheese, had my steamer was ready.
It was a video, which is always.
much more chaotic tome anyways than stills.
(15:34):
But those are my main memories thatI was like, wow, where am I, this,
I can't believe I'm in Philadelphiaand being happy that people were
impressed that I steamed the cheese.
Mica (15:43):
I want to take it to people who inspire you the most in this industry.
You listed, Lisa Russell that youassisted and Dolores Custer, RIP,
who wrote the Food Styling Book,who in this industry inspires you?
Emilie (16:00):
So many people, it will be impossible.
to name all of them.
The first person comingto mind is Claire Baker.
I'm lucky to call her a friend of mine.
She's mostly a prop stylist, butshe's full time at Anthropologie.
She's a senior stylist there.
And she is inspiring becausethere is nothing she can't do.
She can go on any set and she doesa lot of food work for them as well.
(16:22):
So she can do props.
She can do food.
She can do large scale interior.
She can do small little things.
And she can do videos, she can do stills.
Anytime I see her new work, I'malways like, it's just stunning.
Kelsey Windmiller is a stylist who doesboth food and props, which is, it is a
little more common in Philadelphia, Ifind than anywhere else, just, I think
(16:44):
it being a slightly smaller industry, alot of people are more nimble and go back
and forth between the two, which in NewYork is definitely not a thing I noticed.
But Kelsey is super talented.
When I first went freelance after leavingAnthro, she was really supportive as well.
Lisa food stylist who is in Philly now,who you have also interviewed on your
(17:07):
podcast and who assisted for Dolores,she is so talented, so inspiring.
I loved her episode with you.
Mica (17:17):
That's a pretty bomb list.
Lisa Homa, she's just the sweetest person.
So shout out to, to Lisa.
If there's anything that I love about thisindustry is just, it doesn't matter like
where everybody is, you know someone inanother city, another state and there's
that support, you're like, Oh, I loveso and so's work, they're just amazing.
(17:38):
So I was looking over yourquestionnaire and something that
you put on here that I'm like, Iwant to talk about this too now.
You mentioned schlepping.
And you said, I feel likeno one talks about this.
I want to hear more about that.
what is schlepping?
I think I don't know what schleppingIt's not But for not not for me, I hope
(18:00):
I might be the only one who doesn'tknow what schlepping is But I okay.
Let me tell you what I think it meansso then you can tell me if i'm right.
Okay, so schlepping I think rollingup your sleeves and just getting in
there and and getting nitty and grittywith, with whatever you're doing.
Am I right?
Emilie (18:17):
Like a little bit, I think I.
My understanding of the word is that it'slike carrying around a bunch of stuff.
It's the, yeah, that's like a schlep, likeyou gotta bring a bunch of stuff with you.
Mica (18:30):
I remember a while back I had a convo with Kristina Wolter, from Girl
Gone Grits, and we did a couple oftest shoots and the first test shoot we
did together, she had like five boxesof stuff that she was bringing in.
And I was like, what the hell?
Why do you have all this stuff?
What's going on?
She used most of everything.
How big is your kit?
Emilie (18:51):
My kit and full, I'm almost never rolling up to a job with every
single piece, I repack it for each job,depending on what I'm going to need.
I use a, I think it's called likethe T Stack, and it's made by DeWalt,
like the tool company, and it's a toolkit, and it's on wheels, and they make
different containers that like, stack up.
(19:11):
They stack into eachother and they clip in, so
you can bring as many boxesof equipment as you need.
Sometimes it's, you have suitcases,sometimes you have additional bags
and boxes because there might notbe a kitchen where the photo shoot
is and I obviously need to cook.
So the kit varies in size.
(19:32):
Bare minimum I'm going to bringa small, like a toolbox size kit.
And that's it.
It's super minimal.
That's if I know I'm going somewherewith a really fully stock kitchen
that I have been to before.
Even if someone tells me there is a fullkitchen, I've learned to not believe
what equipment they're going to havethere until I've seen it and been there
(19:52):
because someone might say full kitchenand that just means they have a fridge
and a stove and they don't have a standmixer, they don't have baking pans.
So the kit can vary in size and then youhave to bring a ton of food with you too.
I like to bring up schlepping whenpeople reach out to me about becoming
a food stylist because I think someonesays, Oh, I could be a food stylist.
(20:12):
This seems like glamorousin some way because you're
making photos for a magazine.
And it's a lot of really hard work.
It's a lot of running around.
It's a lot of carrying heavy bags in andout, and going through service elevators
sometimes to get into places because youhave so much equipment and so much stuff.
Mica (20:35):
For this mentorship that I was a part of recently, Amplify, we were
each given a project to produce.
I had this huge concept and the foodstylist that I've worked with who was also
a guest on the podcast, Olivia Caminiti.
She just had so much food that shewas bringing in and I was like, Oh,
(20:56):
yeah.
not, it's not that big of asurprise to me because I've been
in it for, a few years like you.
But yet, it always still surprises mehow much food is involved in, in a shoot.
So it's imagine a cookbook shoot.
Whenever a client reaches out to you or aphotographer reaches out to you and they
tell you the concept and you're planning,are you thinking about, what ingredients
(21:21):
are you going to need to gather?
Are you forming that in your mindas they're describing it to you?
How much information do you usuallyneed to know before you have a full
list of what you're going to be getting?
Emilie (21:33):
I am thinking about those things from the moment I
even consider accepting a job.
And from any conversation thatI have with a client, I'm taking
notes and asking questions.
I feel like I always havethree million questions.
After we have a dialed in shot listand concept and our direction and all
(21:54):
that, I'll make a list and then I'llgo through and work out the quantities.
I love the notes app on my phone becausenow that you can check things off.
I would say food stylingis so much list making.
So the biggest math I do is thecalculations for how much of each item
I'm going to need because the worstthing would be to not have enough
(22:17):
food and that be the issue on set.
Have more than enough and peoplewill take home food or it can get
donated after if there's extra.
But yeah, always thinking about whatI'm going to need, how much I'm going
to need, where I'm going to buy it, howmany days in advance can I buy it, what
stores, what market they're going tohave the best versions of everything.
Huge part of the job.
Mica (22:38):
Oh man how many days does it usually take of prepping?
I guess it depends on the shoot, right?
Emilie (22:45):
Always depends.
All of them probably would be likeone shoot day is one prep day, unless
it's a really complicated shot list.
Maybe it's more than that.
But I would say like a one toone ratio is fairly typical.
I'll have an assistant do the shoppingand then I'll do the cooking prep
or they'll do some of the moregeneral shopping and any like beauty
(23:06):
ingredients, I might be sourcing those.
But about a day for one shoot day.
Mica (23:13):
So I want to close out this interview with, you mentioned on here
that you wanted to talk about the valueof assisting and I think that's such a
great way to close this interview out.
My first question for you in termsof assisting is, why is assisting
so important for this industry?
(23:36):
And how long should a foodstylist consider assisting
before moving on to being a lead?
Emilie (23:42):
Yeah, I think for me, it's a little more of a gray area question
because I had prop styled so longAnthropologie and done lead styling
there and not on food specific shoots.
So just the understanding ofbeing the lead stylist on a
bigger shoot wasn't a new thing.
(24:04):
It was only the food that was new to me.
So yeah, when I got a call for the firstfood job, I felt like it probably depended
on what the shoot was going to be.
I learned what the shoot was going to be.
It was going to be thesebreakfast sandwiches.
I felt like I had assisted onshoots for similar product.
So everything food wise that I wouldneed to be doing, I felt really
(24:27):
comfortable with and being on set.
I felt really comfortable with,so that was an easy decision.
I was really hesitant to like, makethe jump from assisting to being the
lead stylist, as a whole, to startturning down assisting jobs anymore.
Because it felt like, Oh, is there goingto be enough work out there for me?
But it got to the point where it waslike, okay, I'm turning down a lot
(24:50):
of stuff, there's work out there.
Sometimes there are shoots thatdon't go great, especially early on.
If it's a new thing, you might get inthe weeds, but it's all a learning
experience and you do it and it's good.
Mica (25:02):
And some people find that they enjoy the assisting part
more than they enjoy the leading.
They're like, I think I canmake a living doing that.
Like you said before, that it verymuch is a gray area that I guess
it's really based on intuition andknowing within yourself, like asking
yourself why am I not taking it?
(25:24):
and in your case, you were concernedabout, is there enough work out there?
And you found pretty quickly that,yeah, there actually is enough work
out there.
There's more than enough.
If I'm turning jobs down.
Yeah.
That answered my question right there.
Emilie (25:36):
I think you try it out if it doesn't go well, I guess you
wouldn't know you weren't ready.
Mica (25:42):
Yeah, I'm gonna go back to assisting.
I need a little more time.
If I could go back I would haveassisted while I was in school.
That would have been the time to do it.
By the time I finished school, I was,like, ready to hit the ground running.
I was ready to like, be lead.
I had no interest in assisting anybody.
I was, like, I'm 30 something years old.
I just want to get started with my career.
(26:02):
But looking back at it now, I wish thatI had taken the opportunity and the
time to reach out to, photographersand assist them while I was in school.
I feel like there were so many things thatI would have learned then that I had to
learn the hard way as a lead photographer.
(26:25):
Thank goodness for like mentors that areout there now that I can reach out to.
I don't know if it's the same wayas a food stylist and prop stylist.
Emilie (26:33):
Yes.
That's a huge part of it.
Between assisting and being laid isdifferent a little bit for photographers
because you can go to school forso much more of like photography
than you do through food styling.
The school really is so muchassisting with food, but certainly
that business side of things is.
(26:55):
You definitely learned somuch of that from assisting.
I always say that the hardest part of thisjob is not the food styling itself, like
the cooking, the prepping, all of that.
It, the hardest part is the thingsthat don't come as naturally, which
are like the business side of thingsand working with clients, and knowing
(27:15):
how to navigate that those situations.
Mica (27:17):
The business side is definitely something that I've had to grow into.
What has helped you get more comfortable,being in the leads and having that
conversation of the business side?
Emilie (27:32):
Experience and talking with other people in the industry, because a big part
of it for me early on was one experienceand knowing what does this take?
How long is it going to take?
What are the costsinvolved with all of that?
Knowing like industry standards beinglike this is what I want to charge.
Is that crazy or not?
(27:52):
And sometimes you'll talk toanother stylist and they'll
be like, that's too low.
That's going to be so much morework than you think it's going to
be when you know, or they'll say,this is average, things like that.
But experience firsthand withall those things has made me feel
much more comfortable with it.
Like I feel really confidentwhen I look at a shot list and
say, that's too many shots.
We can't do that in a day.
(28:14):
If you're looking for the level of qualitythat I would like to provide, I don't ever
think it's worth sacrificing the qualityto get through more shots in a day.
I just don't.
Mica (28:25):
About two months ago, I was approached by an ice cream brand
and they're like, we want you tophotograph our entire, lineup of
ice creams and we were thinking, itcan be done in a four hour shoot.
Thank God for my theater trainingbecause in my heart I was like
dying of laughter, but I was verytransparent with them and I was like
(28:45):
look that's just not gonna happen.
You sent me these like really high conceptimages of what you want your product,
what you want your shoots to look like.
and, I'm going to tell you that that'snot going to happen in four hours.
Like you have over, I think theyhad like 20 ice cream flavors and
they wanted like different seasons.
(29:07):
They wanted to do like the wholeyear of, Christmas, Halloween,
whatever holiday you can thinkof, they wanted to get photos of.
Emilie (29:15):
Were they a newer brand, can I ask?
Mica (29:17):
They were very like newer, like very small brand.
They said to me we've worked withthe same photographer for about
five years and they could do it.
And I was like, feelingbad for the photographer.
I was like, cause the photographersscrewed in this situation.
But I told them, it's you want thesevery high concept images of like
(29:38):
drips and you want, powder, likepowdered sugar, all these things.
And you have 20 flavors.
It's not going to happen in four hours.
Emilie (29:49):
You're a hundred percent right.
It's a lot of educationfor the client sometimes.
It can be a lot to explain andsometimes hard to convince people.
And sometimes it doesn't work out if theyaren't willing to do all these things.
But it's important to know what questionsto ask and everything that you're saying,
like how many set changes are we doing?
(30:10):
What's the backdrops?
Shot count, super important.
And it is much harder when the client.
doesn't know about those things if theyhaven't done many photo shoots or any
photo shoots with a professional before.
Better to have those questionsbeforehand than find out on set.
So
Mica (30:28):
Yes.
Then find out on set and go.
Mm girl.
We are not gonna do that.
I wanna finish off by thankingyou so much for being on the show.
What do you hope that peoplelearn from today's episode?
Emilie (30:45):
Thank you for having me and what do I hope that people learn?
I guess in terms of if you aren't a foodstylist or you're just more generally
interested about the field, the takeawaycould be, knowing that the food on camera
is not prepared probably the same exactway as you eat it and there's a lot just
so much goes into it behind the scenes.
(31:06):
And some of the best career adviceI've ever gotten was like a stylist
who I learned, assisted for, for a longtime when I was younger would always
say, be like water, which is a BruceLee quote, I think weirdly enough.
That early on, I was always kind ofjust like, okay, like this is just
this thing that he always says.
(31:27):
But now having gained so muchmore experience, I'm like,
that's really good advice.
Don't get set in a certainmindset, be flexible onset.
And with all of your work, it's a lotof creative problem solving this job.
And I think it's good to havegoals and work towards them.
(31:49):
So you're not just being aimless.
I try and assess my work and be criticalof it after the shoot and think, what
could I do differently for next time?
And I think always just be likereally rigorous on yourself.
I think that's important.
Mica (32:03):
I love that, the be like water, that's perfect, Where can
the listeners find you, followyou, stalk you love all your work?
Emilie (32:15):
Yeah.
My Instagram is Emily Foz.
It's Emily with an ie.
And my last name is Fosnocht, but so long.
So just FOZ.
Mica (32:25):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, and if you're in the Phillyarea and you're thinking about
assisting, she's a wonderfulperson to reach out to for advice.
Emilie (32:34):
Yeah.
Hit me up.
Mica (32:35):
Thank you so much for being on the show.
You're just the sweetest,kindest person ever.
Emilie (32:40):
Thank you so much for having me.
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