Food Stories

Tell Us A Food Story

What do you see?

What do you smell?

What do you feel?

Deeply rooted in personal connections and primordial cultures, food transcends borders and decades. It can break down societal barriers, unite friends and foes, and nourish both the body and the soul. Food can eliminate loneliness. It can invoke nostalgia.

Everyone – from every background, in every country, of all ages – is given a guaranteed connection with the whole of humanity by the simple necessity of having to eat. All cultures leverage food as a way to build traditions and honor history. It’s a golden thread tying us all back to a sense of global community.

At Candid Fare, we want to build connections by uncovering these personal memories that make us all human. We hope to inform and inspire our readers to be active listeners, ask questions, and dive deeper into their own histories & cultural identities through food memories. We are excited to listen, have conversations, and consciously share these untold stories.

About The Photography

This series is entirely shot on a 120mm film with a 1950s 1000F Hasselblad camera. As a primarily analogue photographer, Cebe has found that the aesthetic qualities of the medium (i.e., control of grain, sensitivity to light, mature color palettes) are unmatched. To feel the amber of rich soil, the textured skin of a ripe orange, or the pale tenderness of a friend’s eye creases—Candid Fare’s medium of sensitive expression is color film.

From loading the film, to using a light meter, to adjusting for exposure, frame, and focus, this camera demands patience and time. In contrast to rapid-fire, digital documentary capturing, this analogue workflow allows us the space and time to speak and connect with the individuals we are photographing.

Additionally, Cebe’s vintage camera serves as a point of conversational interest between subject and photographer. Questions arise such as: “Why are you using such an old camera?” “Can you even buy those anymore?” “How did you learn to use such as camera?” In this space that allows questions about the artist’s processes, the subject’s anxieties begin to dissipate through relaxed conversation. These talks soon veer away from the camera and into a more open and intimate discussion of the food stories we have gathered to talk about. The analogue camera as a social tool for Candid Fare’s work is an essential element for breaking down the power dynamics inherent in the art of photography.

Candid Fare is a collaborative platform with our participants. It provides a space for our partners to share their food stories, cultures, histories, and identities with a larger audience while also retaining authorship over their own stories. We are passionate about paying homage and respect to everyone’s individual stories, lineages, and origins.

Collaborate With Us

If you would like to collaborate with us on a food story, please email us at candidfare@gmail.com

Join us as we break down barriers, uncover connections, & build our collective community through all our food memories

  • Kendall Hill

    Pans ~ Spices ~ Warmth

    “You can be creative with every meal that you make, thinking on the fly, or asking what a dish needs that it didn’t have last time. I think about that all the time when I am making food. It reflects how you want to interact with the world. Food brings out my need to explore, and I give attention to that.”

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  • Natalia Trawkowski

    Kaleidoscope ~ Pickles ~ Love

    “The fresh baguette was the foundation of the breakfast spread; the loaf would be sliced into tens of little pieces, buttered, and layered with various ingredients. My favorite was my dziadek’s homemade apricot marmalade, but savory bites included: deli meats, patés, sliced and spreadable cheeses, hard boiled eggs, sałatka jarzynowa…”

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  • Branden Marty

    Honey Super ~ Sweetness ~ Humidity

    “We would spend hours in the fields amongst his supers, and honey bees, and he would share the story of the honeybee and its importance to our ecosystems. I was in my little bee keepers suit that he handmade for me. He was a very creative man.”

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  • Sarah Hernandez

    Aunt ~ Toast ~ Warmth

    “Food has this beautiful quality that allows for connection, not only with other people, but with yourself. I find that when I have the opportunity to eat a meal, an ingredient, something that reminds me of home, it is a sincere and intimate feeling that cannot be replicated.”

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  • Trinity Pierce

    Dried Leaves ~ Earth ~ Serenity

    “Incredible worlds have opened up, and now I try different kinds of foods as a companion with tea. In the warmer months, I shift to sun tea. I enjoy witnessing the color change from my porch, and throwing in the rosehips, the mint leaves, and watching the sun help open them up.”

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  • Alex Williams

    Forest ~ Soil ~ Aliveness

    “Carving out time to make a nourishing meal for myself is no different from making a potion! Cooking and eating is a process of alchemical creation, uniting the unique personalities of different foods and herbs, and transforming them via the elements (earth, water, fire, air) into a joyous and sensuous experience of nourishment.”

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  • Mason Galecki

    Together ~ Fresh Air ~ Happy

    “The sun is going down, it is golden hour, and the temperature is just right. There is a little breeze, and you can smell the chicken and the potatoes. It’s euphoric! We all line up for food, and the cowboy serving us has a big gray beard and gallon hat.”

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  • Kyla Peal

    Dumplings ~ Tradition ~ Comfort

    “It’s so cute to think of little Kyla being so enamored. It was the combination of the soy sauce, the crispy dumpling, and the pork filling. A lightbulb turned on in my little-kid head.”

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  • Geneva Boyett

    Kinship ~ Flour ~ Belonging

    “It is an incredible thing to feel totally content and happy surrounded by your own kin, preparing one of the things you love most (food!). And then  to gift it to family/friends, knowing that those ingredients will be turned into energy, and nourishment, for their bodies—it is such a rewarding, and near spiritual, experience.”

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  • Shan Shan Song

    Family · Mala · Joyful

    “In Chinese, ‘báifàn’, means rice, but ‘fàn’, as a word, can also mean dinner, or a meal. This translation is special to me, and makes me think of abundance, and collective sharing.”

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  • Kate Stanley

    Christmas Tree · Onions · Safe

    “This memory has created a want to have something special like that, surrounding food. Food for me always meant celebration and togetherness. I like to cook for myself and others. My colander is my grandmother’s. It is so old, but it is hers, and I will never get rid of it.”

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  • Karrie Miner

    Laughter · Earth · Contentedness

    “I hear laughter and smell the earth and ocean. I can also taste the earth, because Paco’s hands were covered in soil. He was gardening, his hands in the earth, so when he would open the pine nut to share with us, we would taste the soil on his hands.”

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  • Timi Reedy

    Dawn · Bacon · Cozy

    “Music is so tied into my memories of the shade trees and lemonade and kids running around and falling asleep in hide and seek spots. Oh, and the food was omnipresent. It was incredible. Those memories are tremendously rich.”

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  • Kathy Rozaklis / Κατερίνα Ροζακλις

    Outdoor Oven · Fresh · Happiness

    “I see my mom taking the Briam dish from the outdoor oven. I smell fresh food, delicious, fresh ingredients. You can’t wait to sit down and eat.”

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  • Mamadou Savane

    Community · Sautéed Chicken · Respect

    “It doesn’t matter who you are, you have to have something in your belly in order to function. Therefore, wasting food is not something that would be accepted in my culture. We respect food because it is part of us.”

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  • Carol Henry

    Orange · Sweetness · Contentment

    “It feels damp and smells green and sweet.”

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  • Patricia Bunk

    Noodles · Chicken Soup · Happy

    “I walk into my mom’s kitchen and find homemade noodles on the counter. I smell chicken soup, a wonderful smell. I am with my siblings and my mom, and everyone is talking.”

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  • Dominique Webberhunt

    Working Hands · Hot Oil · Bubbling Broth

    “Linoleum. Laughter. My grandmother’s fridge covered in magnets. Brown butcher paper.”

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  • Philip Gilbert

    Bounty · Fried Chicken · Welcome

    “I am a suburban eight year old…I see a simple house and grounds with good cheer and an elderly Aunt’s appreciation for our visit.”

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  • Chi Nguyen

    Grandma · Garlic · Warmth

    “When I recall a food memory, I picture grandma moving about the kitchen.”

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  • Vincenza LoBello

    Babushka · Sauce · Loved

    “The house is warm and smells like tomato sauce and mint…”

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  • Jean Galán

    Darkness · Cardamom · Wonderment

    “Food is shared and people want to share. People want to show you something, something that they have or something that they believe in or something that they’re proud of.”

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