The Photography of Modernist Cuisine

When we wrote Modernist Cuisine, we wanted to capture our readers’ attention and engage their curiosity, exposing them to scientific principles and modern culinary techniques. We knew a text‑heavy book might be intimidating, so we added a second goal: make the book beautiful by filling it with stunning photography.

After wrapping up the production of Modernist Cuisine at Home, we decided the photos deserved to be showcased on their own. This book will allow you to see images of food in a whole new way, at a scale that the previous books didn’t allow.

Over the course of Modernist Cuisine and Modernist Cuisine at Home, we shot over 212,000 images. From that library, we selected 405 photos for this book. Of those, 145 of our most-captivating images span the entire 26-inch-wide opened book, uninterrupted by text. Two-thirds of the photos have never before been published, and, of those, 126 images were created just for this book.

At almost 13 pounds and with pages almost 60% larger than its predecessors, The Photography of Modernist Cuisine is a massive photo book. In addition to the images themselves, we also provide a glimpse into the story behind each photograph. Some stories describe the daily cooking experiments in our lab, while others chronicle unusual foods we’ve encountered from all corners of the globe. Others, still, illuminate scientific insig hts through a view of food you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. We included these descriptions in the back of the book and also take you behind the scenes to impart how the photographs were taken and edited.

If you love food or appreciate beauty, or if you’ve ever looked at our photography and wondered how we did it, we hope The Photography of Modernist Cuisine will immerse you in a view of food that is familiar, yet profoundly new.

We hope you find a spot for The Photography of Modernist Cuisine in your home (you may have to clear off your coffee table) and enjoy the stories we share.

— The Modernist Cuisine Team