Back to my roots… back to my original studies… back to what brought me to Dubai in the first place, 14 years ago. The world of hospitality.

Thanks to the creative agency, RAPP, I had the opportunity to capture the world of Emirates inflight catering. I was simply amazed by the operation they run. Pushing 120,000 meals a day? Yes 120,000 meals EVERY DAY! It all needs to run like clockwork so needs a kitchen on steroids (without the steroids obviously).

After a full scouting visit followed by creating a detailed production plan, we spent three days shooting. The brief tagline was ‘Appetite for perfection’ so the images needed to make the food look delish, handcrafted and show scale on a refined level. How to make a production line look appealing? This was easier for the first class meals than those for economy. In the economy class kitchens, everything from the cooking utensils to the bowls where spices are mixed is just huge. In fact, when shooting their spices room, I anticipated a nice shot with a mix of colourful bowls. As it turns out, cooking a 10,000 litre Bolognese sauce doesn’t happen with a teaspoon on chili flakes but rather tubberware boxes full of it!

Emirates pride themselves on their handmade, real egg omelettes and they have a designated crew that flips 20,000 a day. Amazing!

The shoot was a wonderful experience. I’ve been in many kitchens around the world and I love the atmosphere of crafting and teamwork. The Emirates operation stunned me by the sheer scale of everything, the professional approach and how seriously they take hygiene. The staff were all geared up with hair nets, safety shoes and and face masks for the bearded ones…. that included me on shoot day!

Wk.