Tony Le Duc (1961) is a food photographer. But it is difficult to place him only under this heading.
Le Duc is also a publisher who devises new angles for book projects, who curates and lectures. And all of it is related to food.
His photographic work leans towards the artistic, although he is not a member of the artistic community. He has often worked on commission for the advertising world but was never a part of this select group either. His work resembles free work but it is always published on commission. Throughout his nearly 40-year career, Le Duc has primarily published his photographs in magazines and in books. Cookbooks.
Following his photography career, Le Duc set up a cookbook publishing business in the early 2000s. In doing so, he also created a platform to introduce his photography to a wider audience. Besides illustrating, he helps design the content and form of every new culinary publication.
Le Duc’s work is exhibited only sporadically. His imagery often refers to classical still lifes from 17th-century paintings. Clair-obscur is his trademark but he does not stop there. Through the use of a self-developed ‘hover technique’ with textured backgrounds, photo prints and graphic colour areas, he displays food in his own idiosyncratic way. By playing with light, colour, texture and intensity, Le Duc creates compositions that clearly bear his stamp.
“He elevates the advertising game of striking and seducing to a quest for the essence of taste and texture. That is why Tony Le Duc is a pioneer in international food photography. Watching the photographer at work is a revelation. Like a painter, he fills the frame with thoughtful composition.” Elvira Velghe, former director of FOMU, Antwerp
EXPO
2011: Feast for the Eyes, FOMU Antwerp.
2018: Cokeryen, Snijders & Rockoxhuis, Antwerp.
2023: International Foto Biennial Ostend;
from 16th September to 12th November at Fort Napoleon, Ostend.