Chef With a Big Knife.
Have you seen those TikTok and Instagram videos with a masked man cooking over an open fire in the woods, using BIG knives to cut and chop? Well, they call him the “mystery chef” and it’s actually two different men — neither of whom is a certified chef — they’re just “dudes” cooking rustic-style with big fires and knives, in the wild!
How do I know this? Because Chef Diana Andrews did some work finishing up a cookbook for the knife maker Coolina. For the Chef to do her work, that meant Slacking with the knife maker, then watching those videos over and over… The videos are pretty entertaining, with impressive chopping, cutting, stoking the fire, and clanging cast iron pans. The cook’s dog is so well-behaved, patiently waiting until the end of the video for a serving of what’s for dinner.
Of course, the Chef ended up with a set of knives at the end of the project, as part of her compensation and support of her client. So, when I showed up in her kitchen with a vintage Polaroid BIG SHOT portrait camera, it seemed apropos to take a BIG portrait of the Chef wielding a BIG knife, using my BIG SHOT instant camera and (FP-100c) film. She tried to look scary — like Jason in the Friday the 13th movies — but only ended up looking slightly demented… LOL
Camera: Polaroid BIG SHOT Portrait Camera (vintage)
Film: FujiFilm FP-100c Color pack-film (made in 2016/expired 2018)
Photographer: Russ Murray (vintage)
Subject: Chef Diana Andrews
Location: Between the Tines, Stamford, CT
See you tomorrow!
russ murray 