
Sales of Batt’s recent books have averaged 7,000–12,000 copies. The site currently gets between 18,000 and 20,000 hits per month. In addition to serving as a showroom for Batt’s food photography and a virtual bookstore for his titles, the site provides a number of services for the cooking community, including chef profiles, a calendar of New York food events, and job listings. It’s just all their creations.”įour years ago, Batt launched the website The Chef’s Connection. Batt says he appreciates the low-tech aspect of cooking: “I really like working with chefs because it’s all from them working with their hands. Other than that, “I schmooze with them.”Īfter the shoot, Batt works with a small team of graphic designers and editors to finalize the recipes, many of which are appearing for the first time in print. I just tell them, I want to take a picture of your best dish,” Batt says. You need the real, bad stuff.” – BattmanĪs Batt meets chefs from restaurants and kitchens around the world, he makes a point to be nonintrusive his photography equipment is modest in size and easily transportable. The New Blues Brothers: Battman with Yoshi Kojima, Executive Chef at Tao Downtown Batt’s book of sweet and savory recipes, Crossing Borders/Sweet Crossings, also publishes this spring. Releasing this spring is Master Chefs of France, a collection of recipes from renowned members of the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France culinary organization. Among his titles are: New York Sweets, Summer in New York, Sandwiches of the World, and Soup. The result of this first project was The Great Bagel & Lox Book.īatt has gone on to self-publish 12 additional collections of food photography and recipes. Then, in 2004, he hatched a new concept: he challenged 85 chefs to put their own spin on a classic dish. In 2001, Batt reached out to New York chefs, asking to photograph their dishes. Batt then went on to work as the lead photographer at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and is the photographer behind the charitable New York City Firefighters Calendar.



He began capturing the city’s sights and selling the images as greeting cards.įrom 1987 until 2004, 35 of Batt’s photos of the city were on display at the Empire State Building.
#Alan battman photographer professional#
After moving back to New York City in the 1980s, he wasn’t sure what professional path to take, but felt drawn to photography. It’s a description that might apply to other aspects of Batt’s life. However, that line of work wasn’t a good fit: “I didn’t have a standardized approach.” However, anyone looking at his oeuvre of food photography might be surprised that he counts a Quarter Pounder with cheese and fries as one of his favorite meals.īatt, who began taking photographs professionally in 1981, boasts a varied career, with stints at his father’s sweater manufacturing company in Brooklyn and as a toy salesman in California. “I’m not a foodie,” insists Alan Batt, or Battman, as he is known in culinary circles. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on
