An intimate image full of warmth and humanity, Kebabiyana, by Indian photographer Debdatta Chakraborty, has won the overall prize of Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022, the world’s leading celebration of the art of food photography and film.

The photograph was taken on Khayyam Chowk, an ordinary Indian street in Srinagar by day that transforms into a buzzing food hub at night, as vendors fire up charcoal ovens and fill the air with the smoky aroma of grilled delights such as wazwan kebabs, the popular Kashmiri street food.

 

A street vendor fires up charcoal ovens and smoke fills the air

Kebabiyana by Debdatta Chakraborty, India. Overall Winner of Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2022.

 

It is always a source of excitement and wonder when one single image rises to the top in the Awards,” says Caroline Kenyon, Director/Founder of the Awards. “In today’s world, more than ever, we feel the need for comfort, for love. There is so much to reassure us here – the beautifully captured billowing embrace of the smoke, the golden light, the subject’s expression as he prepares the food for sharing. Sparks fly from the skewers, whose roasting we can almost smell, we imagine the warm, delicious aroma. This image, gentle but powerful, nourishes our soul.”

“As Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year enters its second decade, never has the importance of photography and food been so great,” says Phil Turnbull, CEO of APAL, owner of Pink Lady®, and headline sponsor of the Awards since 2011. “Huge global events – war, famine, the end of lockdowns, the revival of the hospitality industry, the chance to celebrate with friends and family again – all these are recorded in the Awards, which show so vividly how food touches every aspect of our lives. The competition continues to be a truly global celebration of the art of food photography.”

 

This entrant to the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year shows a lunch break at a summer military camp for children held in Kyiv by the Azov Battalion.

The image was taken during a lunch break at a summer military camp for children held in Kyiv by the Azov Battalion.

 

The winners were announced by globally acclaimed chef and co-presenter of UK Masterchef: The Professionals, Monica Galetti, in an exciting Awards ceremony that was live streamed on the competition’s YouTube channel on Tuesday 26 April 2022. It was watched by an audience across the globe, including celebrities from the food and photography world.

This year’s global judging panel, tasked with assessing the thousands of entries submitted from over 60 countries across the world, was chaired by legendary food photographer, David Loftus, and included Fiona Shields, Head of Photography, Guardian News & Media, Krishna Madhavan Pillai, Chief Editor, Better Photography, NA Risong, Art director and curator of Inter Art Center Gallery, Beijing, Nik Sharma, Cookbook author, Photographer, Columnist, Tasneem Alsultan, Investigative and National Geographic Photographer and Rein Skullerud, Head of Photo Unit, World Food Programme.

The exhibition of the 2022 Finalists will be premiering at The Royal Photographic Society, one of the world’s oldest photographic societies, in Bristol. The exhibition will run from 20 November – 12 December 2022. Entry is free.

To view the online gallery of all the 2022 finalists, please visit www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com