#dinnercam: money-shots for food pornographers
By Don Ferguson on Sunday, April 13, 2014
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a socially active food blogger in possession of an Instagram account must be in want of the perfect snap. Such is the case, that a quick trawl of your preferred social media platform will undoubtedly reveal an array of wonderfully photoshopped images – ranging from beans on toast with a sunny hue, to sharply focussed mackerel salads and violently green peas.
It is this burgeoning visible outpouring of love for shareable food porn, it is no surprise that PR and marketing types the world over are eternally sniffing out the nooks and crannies into which they can stuff brand messaging – allowing them to permeate this deliciously digital netherworld. One such example of the more ingenious practitioners comes from South African internet provider MWEB who, in collaboration with a local Mexican restaurant have set about launching #dinnercam – a movable full service photo-studio and light-box designed to give food-bloggers the social-media money-shot.
From here, Cape Town’s queueing diners have the option to request use of #dinnercam on entry, allowing them to engage in some technical jiggery-pokery to sync their smartphone via the MWEB Wifi. The various functions of the light box are then accessible via the device, into which diners can place their newly purchased dish, take and edit some snaps before instantly uploading online – generating a professionally treated brand of lascivious ‘photo-gastronography’™.
An archetypal demonstration of how tech is being successfully integrated into the communal affection for food and eating, #dinnercam is described by MWEB as “part of a project exploring how Wi-Fi and the Web are changing everyday life in public spaces.”
What’s more, with the old-inflammatory-chestnut of food blogging vs food journalism a continued bone of contention here in the UK, it’s seems heartening that many more are deciding to embrace instead of dismiss it.
But don’t take my word for it…
