In an intriguing blend of fine art and celebrity culture, Italy-based photographer Dan Bannino’s series Still Diet recreates famous fad diets as stunning still life shots. Using figures as contemporary as Beyonc or as historical as Henry VIII, Bannino documents the fascinating relationship between humans and food, regardless of era or occupation. Whether the diet is nutritious, overly strict, unhealthily overindulgent, or just plain bizarre, the self-taught photographer immortalizes the edible arrangement in the style of paintings by the Old Masters, using rich colors and moody lighting to create lavish Baroque displays.
“With this series my aim was to capture the beauty that lies in this terrible constriction of diets and deprivation, giving them the importance of an old master’s painting,” says Bannino. “I wanted to make them significant, like classic works of arts that are becoming more and more weighty as they grow older. My aim was to show how this weirdness hasn’t changed even since the 15th century.”
Above: Beyonc Knowles – “Master cleanse diet” – lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, salt, and laxative herbal tea
Gwyneth Paltrow – “Strict detox diet” – carrots, broccoli, onions, chickpeas, pt made with nuts and lentils, and room temperature water with lemon and/or green tea
Simon Cowell – “Life enhancing” – airfreight-shipped box full of pineapples, strawberries, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, oranges, mangos, and avocados, made into smoothies, plus a tank of milk for bathing in, and vitamins
Henry VII – “The banquet diet” – pork, chicken, rabbit, lamb, fruits, and wine
Luigi Cornaro (15th-century Venetian nobleman) – “Sober Life” – 400ml of solid food or eggs and 500ml wine
Bill Clinton – “Cabbage diet” – cabbage soup, mixed with other vegetables
Lord Byron – “Romantic poet’s diet” – potatoes in vinegar and soda water
Kate Moss – “Hollywood Diet” – alcohol and cigarettes
Charles Saatchi – “The egg diet” – nine eggs prepared in multiple ways and a glass of wine
Dan Bannino Website
Dan Bannino on Facebook
via [Beautiful/Decay], [Artnet]