Yeast Photo Festival's Fifth Edition Explores Food Systems in Galatina

Running from 11 September to 8 November in Galatina, Italy, the fifth Yeast Photo Festival, titled A Matter of Taste, focuses on the systems that support food's existence rather than treating it merely as an object of desire. Featuring works by Forough Alaei, Bob Miller, Pier Costantini, Marco Zorzanello, and others, the exhibition showcases images of Iranian fisherwomen, American farming families, a collection of domestic recipes, and an extensive Abruzzese feast with over fifty dishes. The festival highlights food's material aspects—its gathering, preparation, preservation, and transmission—while prompting reflections on meal participants, preparation, and the stories conveyed through food. Departing from polished contemporary food photography, it presents raw images of skewered peppers, broad beans on blankets, freshly caught fish, handwritten recipes, and frying pans on stoves. In a time when meal photography is prevalent, this exhibition offers a fresh perspective, emphasizing food as a lens to explore what often goes unnoticed. The recurring theme of transmission suggests that culture is sustained through repeated actions, with A Matter of Taste exploring taste in relation to access, labor, memory, and potential losses.