The Gourmand #12
News of a new issue of The Gourmand always prompts the question, ‘What’s on the cover?’ So here’s the answer, along with the accompanying inside story.
Shot by regular Gourmand collaborator Jenny van Sommers, the cover is another playful piece of photography toying with the traditional link between mice and cheese. In this case the idea came from creative director David Lane, but Jenny cast the mice and together they sourced the cheese at Borough Market, next to her studio. Unlike other animal shoots Jenny has worked on, the mice were very co-operative.
Turns out mice don’t like eat cheese and are very relaxed on set — the tungsten lights kept them warm and they happily sat on the cheeses without nibbling. ‘We just had to wait for them to settle into comfortable positions, and shoot,’ Jenny told me, ‘The hardest part was getting the lighting right.’ Ever the perfectionist, she created the soft fade backgrounds in camera rather than later in Photoshop, in homage to eighties photography.
It’s the perfect tease for the new issue, we’re really looking forward to seeing the whole thing.
Hear more from Jenny van Sommers on episode 10 of the magCulture Podcast next week.