Meet Shilpa Iyer | Food & Beverage Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shilpa Iyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shilpa, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born in India but my family moved to Singapore when I was 9 months old. We were fortunate that this opportunity to move to Singapore came about. While we didn’t know much about the country at the time, my parents recognized soon enough that while physically small, this country was culturally-rich and would eventually contribute vastly to my love of travel and food. A tiny island, located at the southern tip of Malaysia, people from varied backgrounds both from the region and from afar called it home. I grew up with friends from different cultural backgrounds from me and was exposed to the idea of cultural tolerance from a very young age. With these strong cultural influences that shaped this new country, it’s no surprise that Singapore’s food scene developed into something unique, each culture borrowing spices and kitchen techniques from each other and applying it to their dishes. This resulting amalgamation of cuisines created a food-obsessed nation. My experiences growing up has clearly influenced who I am today. I’m always seeking new places to travel and new foods to try, which in turn has lead me to a career as a food photographer.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I came into professional photography by accident. I have a master’s degree in Hydrogeology and worked for an environmental consulting company for a decade before my son was born. I decided to take a break from work initially as most of my family is back in Singapore and couldn’t call upon them to help out on a regular basis. It soon became apparent that while I enjoyed raising my son, I needed an outlet for myself. I initially started an online business selling home accessories from various parts of the world especially places I had visited in the past and made connections with artisans. This was my first experience of working for myself and doing everything on my own from marketing, advertising, sales, book keeping and so on.

But one of the things that I hadn’t anticipated but became so important was taking good quality images of the products for my website. I’d always been a photo enthusiast, mainly with street and travel photography. But being able to present these images in their best light forced me to really practice using a DSLR for full control of my images. I continued doing this for my business which taught me how to become a better photographer. But several years later, when I decided to wind down my online store, a friend of mine desperately needed photographs of her family for a holiday card. She was so pleased with my work that I started getting calls from others in town to create images for their families as well. This developed into a portrait and motherhood photography business which I worked on for a few years. I loved how different this business was to my previous online store. I didn’t have to deal with a storage area of inventory and shipping supplies. There was less to keep track of and marketing and advertising was purely by word of mouth.

While I loved photography and really enjoyed meeting new people and creating beautiful images for them, I’d spend my free time photographing my lunches and dinners and posting them on instagram! This went on for several months until I was contacted by King Arthur Baking Company to see if I’d be interested in working on a food photography project for them! It was then, that I realized that I could be doing what I loved (photography) on a subject that meant so much to me (food!) that after a quick interview, I began working with them.

As time went on, through the power of social media, more food-related businesses started reaching out to me as well as local restaurants and distilleries to help them capture images for their marketing purposes. My food photography business really took off which I’ve been working on for nearly 5 years now. While I have my own signature style of photography, which draws upon the tropical rainy environment I grew up in, I love that I can create different styles of images based on my clients’ needs. It pushes me to look for ways to make my work stand out from the rest of the crowd. One of the biggest things I’ve learned about myself through my food photography journey is that one should always look back upon experiences that are unique to you and inject that into your art. There is a tendency when one is starting out to emulate your mentors and photograph in their style, but what will really set you apart is when you can channel those experiences, that only you know, into your art, giving you a unique voice in a somewhat saturated industry.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hands down this would be Singapore! There is so much to experience on this small island. On day 1, after acclimating to the heat and humidity, we’d start the morning off with a walk through the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a world heritage site for its exotic plant and animal life. We’d make our way to a hawker center to local economic eats where you’d have dozens of food stalls to choose from ranging from Chinese, Malay, Indian, Japanese and Eurasian dishes amongst many more.

Day 2 would be spent visiting the Singapore zoo – there are various attractions including a Night Safari for nocturnal animals as well as a River Safari that features rivers including wildlife and plantlife from around the world. We’d have dinner at one of the many converted shophouses in Chinatown.

Day 3 would include a trip to one of the many museums in Singapore. I’d visit the Peranakan Museum that showcases the rich cultural history of a community local to Singapore and parts of Malaysia. From their traditional outfits, to their incredible pottery and food, this is something I wouldn’t want to miss. We’d eat at Violet Oon – the mother of Peranakan cuisine in Singapore.

Day 4 would be spent looking at ways in which Singapore has found ways to use innovation and technology seamlessly with Singapore’s tropical backdrop. Gardens by the Bay is one example which houses biodomes of various habitats like rainforest and cloud forests. The large Supertrees are also seen here, which are electric trees that were built to generate solar power, to vent air to help regulate humidity and temperate as well as capture rain water. We’d eat at Marina Bay Sands, the large iconic 3 tower building with what appears to be a floating boat on top (which houses the iconic infinity pool).

Day 5 would be a day spent visiting some of the military forts and colonial architecture around the country. Formerly a British Colony, some of the old Colonial houses still exist. One can take tours of these old homes and educate ourselves on how designs for homes used the tropical environmental to its advantage by building large open courtyards and verandahs to encourage cool breezes. Dinner would be at an outdoor hawker center for local eats and an ice cold beer!

Day 6 wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Singapore’s outer islands for some tropical beach stays. We’d find a local satay stall here! Perfect beach food!

And finally Day 7 would be to shop along Orchard Road, known for its high end malls and luxury jewelry stores! High Tea would be included as this is very much a Singaporean pastime after a day of shopping!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It would be my teenage son. He’s a huge foodie and ever since he started eating solid foods, he was always eager to try new things. Seeing his enthusiasm especially with food has really helped encourage me to try push the boundaries with the food we eat, and try new cuisines. That enthusiasm for trying new things has shaped my work in photography as well.

Website: www.shilpaiyereats.com

Instagram: @shilpaiyereats

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shilpaiyerphotography/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shilpaiyereats

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shilpaiyereats

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC17P8bumzjLBjKSxrsJ4svA

Image Credits
Shilpa Iyer Photography