Feast Your Eyes

BY ISABEL LEA & AARON BERNSTEIN

Every culture has its own sayings that incorporate food, and each one tells us something about the language, culinary habits and place of origin. During their Adobe Creative Residency, photographer Aaron Bernstein teamed up with creative director Isabel Lea to explore visual representations of the relationship between food and language.

In this series, they curated a group of seven action-based phrases, bringing these ideas to life through the personification of customized props and corresponding foods. 'Feast Your Eyes' seeks to pull each idiom out of its distinct culture, creating scenes through uniform visuals that establish a common-ground for understanding.

CHĪ CÙ 吃醋

TO DRINK VINEGAR

TO BRING YOUR STRAWBERRY

“TO BUTT INTO CONVERSATION”

Origin Language: French
Context: In French, “fraise” is one of many produce-related slang terms for “head.”

SALT IN THE HEAD

“TO HAVE A SEASONED MIND”

Origin Language: Croatian
Context: To be wise or knowledgable about things.

TO PUT IN THE CHILI AND MASALA

“TO ADD TO THE DRAMA”

Origin Language: Punjabi
Context: A general term to denote exaggeration in many situations.

TO THROW PEAS AT A WALL

“TO WASTE EFFORT”

Origin Language: Polish
Context: Used to describe someone who is engaging in an argument with someone who will not change.

BAD MILK

“TO BE IN A BAD MOOD”

Origin Language: Spanish (Spain)
Context: Milk is used in a similar way in many Spanish sayings and can be associated with feelings, luck or intentions.

TO ADD YOUR MUSTARD

“TO ADD AN OPINION”

Origin Language: German
Context: Often associated with a negative connotation, when one is adding their opinion whether it is asked for or not.