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Hamburger Plants

“Photographing a cake can be art.”  —Irving Penn

Where do you find a field of hamburger plants?  You grow them.

The client was Farmer Boys. The line was “You can’t pick a fresher burger.” It was the agency’s concept. My job was to make it real. So I set up a dozen pots, put a head of romaine in each one, and set a hamburger on top. I shot them from every angle I could find. Those pieces became a field.

The farmer was a hired model. He held a round piece of foam core with his hands placed just so. The real burger came last. We pressed two dents into the top bun where his fingers would go. Everything was shot on transparency film, and I made high resolution scans for the client to assemble.

I’ve been two photographers for most of my life. One gets paid to be creative on demand. The other answers to no one. Do they influence each other? Probably. After five decades it’s hard to tell where one ends.

What they share is simple. Every picture is a problem. You solve it or you don’t. To me that is what creativity is.
Then there is composition. The burger sits dead center. The rows of plants run back to the barn. The farmer’s face rests just above the bun. Balance makes or breaks an image. Every element has to talk to the one beside it.

So what makes a good photographer?

Commercial work taught me to solve problems. Someone hands you one, and you deliver. Personal work is harder. No one hands you anything. You have to notice the problem before you can solve it. Most days I walk past them. Maybe the good photographers are the ones who see a problem where everyone else sees a wall, a tree, a head of lettuce.

Everything is problem solving. Life most of all.

Billboard for Farmer Boys Restaurants | circa 2000

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