As part of our ongoing artist series, we collaborated with photographer and art director Ellis Parrinder to cook up our Joy Bakehouse campaign.
We sat down with Ellis for a coffee (and a slice of cake, of course) to chat through his career, his creative inspiration and how our latest campaign came to life.
On his creative journey…
As a teenager, I was obsessed with photographer Herb Ritts and his iconic images of Madonna - so I created a makeshift studio in the garage of my home in South Yorkshire and started snapping my Mum, my friends and our dog, Judy! From there, I moved to London in my early 20s, worked hard, and carved out a successful career photographing bands such as Coldplay, A-listers like Meryl Streep and British icons like Davina McCall and Dermot O’Leary.
I transitioned into food photography by chance when I was commissioned by The Times to shoot Candice Brown, winner The Great British Bake Off in 2016. I fell in love with the creativity I could express through food photography and still life. Fast forward 10 years, and I still love the collaborative nature of food shoots and their space for creativity.
On where he finds inspiration…
My biggest inspiration comes from the world of pop art - think Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and Jeff Koons. I’m also very inspired by 1970s/80s food photography where the images were fun (and a bit weird). Like any creative, I get a lot of inspiration from Instagram, magazines and photography books - my collection would be well into the 1000s!
On his work rituals and routines…
No shoot is the same and each requires a different approach, but I always start with a client brief and brainstorming session to align on the creative treatment. I then create a mood board with reference images, lighting suggestions and color combinations, and spend time carefully choosing a wide variety of props and backgrounds to allow for last minute changes and inspiration. While each project is unique, my visual aesthetic and style remains consistent.
On working with Joonbyrd…
I had lots of great chats with the Joonbyrd team where we bounced ideas around the Joy Bakehouse theme, including which of my previous work the team found inspiring - which provided a strong sense of direction. Conceptually, it all started with agreeing the color palette - pinks, lilacs and silver - and mixing this with my impactful lighting to bring to life the Joonbyrd product.
On creativity in the future…
In this new world of AI, I am committed to preserving the art of humans creating powerful images through photography - and getting these images into the real world. So whether it's cook books, selling prints of my work for people’s homes or my latest project, The Breakfast Zine, my aim is to bring back the tactile approach to art.
And finally, his favorite Brighton food spots…
Brighton has a fantastic food scene. I would recommend visiting Burnt Orange, Wild Flor and The Coal Shed next time you are in town.
