Photos of People Next To Their Daily Food

This fascinating photography project from photography team/married couple Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio shows people from around the world next to their daily diets. Now, this isn’t a perfect representation of the average caloric intake for people from all walks of life – it’s not meant to be. These people are just strangers that Peter and Faith met on their travels, this isn’t an exact scientific study, just a very cool photography subject, that happens to have some information attached. Munna Kailash, Bicycle Rickshaw Driver, India – 2,400 Calories     Noolkisaruni Tarakuai, Third Wife of a Maasai Chief – 800 Calories     Ahmed Ahmed Swaid, Qat Merchant, Yemen – 3,300 Calories   Leland Melvin, NASA Astronaut, Outer Space – 2,700 Calories   Nguyen Theo, Rice Farmer, Vietnam – 2,500 Calories   Felipe Adams, Iraq War Veteran, California – 2,100 Calories     Tiffany Whitehead, Amusement Park Ride Supervisor, Minnesota – 1,900 Calories   Ruma Akhter, Seamstress, Bangladesh – 1,800 Calories   Saleh Abdul Fadlallah, Camel Broker, Egypt – 3,200 Calories   Curtis Newcomer, US Army Soldier, Mojave Desert – 4,000 Calories   Din Memon, Taxi Driver, Chicago – 2,000 Calories   Conrad Tolby, Truck Driver, Illinois– 5,400 Calories   Mariel Booth, Model and Student, New York – 2,400 Calories   Katherine Navas, High Schooler, Venezuela – 4,000 Calories   Solange Da Silva Correia, Rancher’s Wife, Brazil – 3,400 Calories   Coco Simone Finken, Vegetarian, Canada – 1,900 Calories   Willie Ishulutak, Soapstone Carver, Canada – 4,700 Calories   Lan Guihua, Farmer, China – 1,900 Calories   Maria Ermelinda Ayme Sichigalo, Mother of Eight, Ecuador – 3,800 Calories   This project is now a photo book entitled “What I Eat: Around The World in 80 Diets”, providing even more information about the subjects. I like the pairing of photos and facts: where they’re from, what they do, how many calories they eat, what their lifestyle is like; but the photos are the portion that turn these people into more than a statistic, it turns this into a statement. What that statement is, I’m not really sure, maybe that food is universal? Culture is intrinsically tied to diet? I’ll have to read the book and find out.