Photographs of food at the Getty Center

William Eggleston's "Memphis"

The J. Paul Getty Museum will present “In Focus: Tasteful Pictures” on view at the Getty Center in Los Angeles beginning April 6. This exhibition will investigate technological and aesthetic developments in photography of food. All images are drawn from the Getty’s world-renowned permanent photography collection. Some are new to the collection and this exhibition will be their first time on display.

The pieces in the exhibition go from the mid-19th century until the present and are from such artists as Roger Fenton, Adolphe Braun, Edward Weston and Bill Owens. Many different photographic processes are included. Virginia Heckert, curator, said that the title of the exhibition “refers both to the subject of food and aesthetic preferences, particularly how the latter may have shifted over time.”

William Eggleston’s image “Memphis” (above) shows a freezer with stocked with various items. According to an article in ArtDaily, the characteristics of the image “[transform] the promise of plentiful choice into the compromise of convenience.”

“In Focus: Tasteful Pictures” will be on view through August 22 and is the sixth exhibition of the Getty Museum’s “In Focus” series. “In Focus: Still Life” will open in September and “In Focus: Trees” will be on view in a year.