I recently discovered a striking and unsettling series of photographs titled “Fast Food” by Jon Feinstein. Each photograph is labeled with the amount of fat the pictured item contains, turning familiar fast-food items into clinical specimens.
Since the 1950s fast food has become so global that its icons are often as recognizable as popular historical figures — its image heavily branded into the public periphery. “Fast Food” is a typological exploration of the food on its own. Hamburgers, French fries, chicken nuggets, and “specialty” sandwiches are presented on a stark black background, isolated from their common context, without name recognition, nearly floating in space. Under austere, uniform lighting and stripped of logos, packaging and iconography, the food takes on a disgustingly scientific, yet ethereal quality. These photographs investigate the love/hate relationship many Americans have with fast food and, like many other aspects of popular culture, its ability to be simultaneously seductive and repulsive.
Feinstein donated one of his prints to support Rachel Sussman’s Oldest Living Things in the World project on Kickstarter. I couldn’t resist supporting the project—and the idea of owning a framed bacon cheeseburger—so I pledged. If the campaign meets its goal, I’ll be the new owner of the print titled “42 grams.”