On November 7, 1990, I read an article in the New York Times called “Food Styling: The Art of Making the Basil Blush.” Writer Dena Kleiman said, “Since there seemed to be no books on the subject and all that is known about the craft is learned on the job, many stylists keep their professional secrets to themselves.” This fascinated me. At the time I had been food styling for five years. When I first looked for work by contacting other food stylists, no one would talk to me or even return my calls. People were close-mouthed about the business. Back then I was writing food features for the Boston Globe. I researched photographers who had food clients and were shooting food in the Boston area. I asked the art director if I could have them shoot my features. She agreed, and I began to write and style my own articles. After I had worked with some of the photographers a few times, they began to hire me to style food for their other shoots. By being creative and working around the system, I had started my career as a food stylist. When I read Kleiman’s article in 1990 and learned there were no books on the subject, I knew the time was ripe and got to work. In 1992 I published Food Photography and Styling, the first book on the topic.
