You need to see these wacky food photos

When I came across a pink cream puff covered in 100 and 1000s on Instagram, I knew this was something to investigate. The bright flash, capturing every particle of colour, the long doughnut leaving a deep, dark shadow behind it, and the Japanese newspaper it sat on. Who created this brilliant shot of an obscenely sweet cream puff that looked like it had been made for Barbie herself.

On closer look it was Martin Parr, and the photo was to highlight his newly released Phaidon book called Real Food. Now if you don’t know Martin Parr he’s been around for quite a while snapping mostly people and food, capturing the essence of human existence in quite a brutal, honest way. His renowned vivid, artistic imagary has earned him iconic status in the industry.

His latest book explores the notion of ‘we are what we eat‘, often portraying cheap eats and dated dishes.

His food shots are also very real, capturing the wackiness of certain food stuffs and exposing the food with harsh lighting giving it a personified vulnerability. Images are at times grotesque, yet beautiful in their simplicity and vivid colour.

The images are pretty magnificent, showing food from Britain to Japan, food he documented over 20 years, long before food photography became all the rage.

Here are some of the images taken from Instagram to showcase the bizarrely mesmerising food photos:

A photo posted by Martin Parr (@martinparrstudio) on Dec 9, 2015 at 9:32am PST

SPAM like you mean it???????????????????? ????????????????? by #martinparr ?? #me#i#ig#insta#igers#mood#madrid#paris#easter#beach#happy#turist#summer#friends#sexy#spam#yo#tu#ella#love#goals#bae#picoftheday#instagood

A photo posted by Morante’s Moodboard® (@srmorante) on Mar 27, 2016 at 9:19am PDT

Percy’s ?? #photography #martinparr

A photo posted by E M I L Y (@emily_wright87) on Mar 28, 2016 at 4:42am PDT

Over the years I have photographed a lot of food. It has become for me, a new social landscape. What we eat and how it looks tells us a lot about our aspirations and who we are. Also we are used to seeing photos of food which are not really accurate. Think of packaging in a supermarket, and then open up what is inside and what we see rarely resembles the image on the package. Of all the cakes I photographed this was the most colourful and most absurd. It was in a small local café in the city of Atlanta. I saw it, got excited, bought it, photographed it and then tried to eat it. I did not finish the cake, but it was $3.50 well spent. Atlanta, USA, 2010.

A photo posted by Martin Parr (@martinparrstudio) on Dec 16, 2015 at 2:15am PST

After last weekend’s Easter festivities – our sweet tooth certainly hasn’t waned. Out now – Martin Parr: Real Food. A bumper collection of cult-favourite Magnum photographer @martinparrstudio’s iconic food pictures, which demonstrate the simple notion that ‘we are what we eat.’ Available in English and French on phaidon.com

A photo posted by Phaidon (@phaidonsnaps) on Mar 29, 2016 at 4:09am PDT

After last weekend’s Easter festivities – our sweet tooth certainly hasn’t waned. Out now – Martin Parr: Real Food. A bumper collection of cult-favourite Magnum photographer @martinparrstudio’s iconic food pictures, which demonstrate the simple notion that ‘we are what we eat.’ Available in English and French on phaidon.com

A photo posted by Phaidon (@phaidonsnaps) on Mar 29, 2016 at 5:38am PDT

If, like us, you sometimes find these thoughtfully-curated aspirational food publications a little hard to relate to, Martin Parr is here to help. Real Food is a study of what we’re really eating all around the world. Think pie and chips with lumpy flour-thickened gravy, spam and egg sandwiches, Mr Blobby meringues, seaside fudge and even the occasional scorpion. Happy Lunchtime! #martinparr #realfood #foodporn #photobook #villageleeds #bookshop #leeds

A photo posted by Village (@village_leeds) on Mar 17, 2016 at 6:13am PDT

After last weekend’s Easter festivities – our sweet tooth certainly hasn’t waned. Out now – Martin Parr: Real Food. A bumper collection of cult-favourite Magnum photographer @martinparrstudio’s iconic food pictures, which demonstrate the simple notion that ‘we are what we eat.’ Available in English and French on phaidon.com

A photo posted by Phaidon (@phaidonsnaps) on Mar 29, 2016 at 7:02am PDT

See more inside the book here.

(cover image by Phaidon)