She believes Americans are at too great a remove from their food, how it is created and how it is processed. "That's unhealthy," she said. When Susana Raab began her "Consumed" project, she knew that she was photographing as an outsider. She had never worked at a fast food restaurant and rarely ate at one. Though born on the same day that the Big Mac was invented, she had never eaten one. So she did. DESCRIPTIONSusana Raab "I'm embarrassed to say that the thing is tasty," Ms. Raab said. " And I know that it's not because it's healthy." How does a nice, health-conscious photographer find herself following Ronald McDonald around the country? "I became burnt out on politics and had failed to develop my vision," said Ms. Raab, who worked for Roll Call and The New York Times in Washington, earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination from The Times and honors from the White House News Photographers Association. "I needed to get out to discover myself and my work." So she fled the beltway and attended graduate school for photography at Ohio University. She wanted to do an extended, self-initiated project while in graduate school. "Fast food had been photographed but hadn't been explored in depth," she said. "You can take the obvious pictures of obesity and people eating, but I wanted to approach it obliquely, not literally. I think I found my voice, little by little, while exploring the project."
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Outer Mongolia from 1995 to 1996, Susana Raab watched as the cow she was about to eat was killed right in front of her
Showcase: More Than a Slice
By James Estrin
When Susana Raab began her "Consumed" project, she knew that she was photographing as an outsider. She had never worked at a fast food restaurant and rarely ate at one. Though born on the same day that the Big Mac was invented, she had never eaten one. So she did.
"I'm embarrassed to say that the thing is tasty," Ms. Raab said. " And I know that it's not because it's healthy."
How does a nice, health-conscious photographer find herself following Ronald McDonald around the country?
"I became burnt out on politics and had failed to develop my vision," said Ms. Raab, who worked for Roll Call and The New York Times in Washington, earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination from The Times and honors from the White House News Photographers Association. "I needed to get out to discover myself and my work."
So she fled the beltway and attended graduate school for photography at Ohio University.
She wanted to do an extended, self-initiated project while in graduate school. "Fast food had been photographed but hadn't been explored in depth," she said. "You can take the obvious pictures of obesity and people eating, but I wanted to approach it obliquely, not literally. I think I found my voice, little by little, while exploring the project."
Her medium-format photographs are gentle, whimsical and generous. They are never forced or dogmatic. The color palette is rich yet nuanced.
DESCRIPTIONSusana Raab
The extraordinary photograph of a woman holding hands with a person in a rooster outfit suggests that ours is a romantic love affair with fast food. There are three Colonel Sanderses preparing for the same event and many photographs of Ronald McDonald. Ms. Raab photographed the same man dressed as Mr. McDonald in Athens, Ohio and London, Ky. When she got to Poolesville, Md., Ms. Raab was grateful that a different man was portraying the American icon.
"I was afraid he would think I was obsessed with him and that I was a stalker," she said.
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Outer Mongolia from 1995 to 1996, Ms. Raab watched as the cow she was about to eat was killed right in front of her. She believes Americans are at too great a remove from their food, how it is created and how it is processed. "That's unhealthy," she said.
Ms. Raab's next show, "Rank Strangers," opens at the Dean Jensen Gallery in Milwauke on July 24. It will include images from "Consumed."
"This is not a comprehensive view of America," Ms. Raab said. "It's just one slice. But it does suggest that we're disenfranchised from more wholesome ways of living and more tangible, intimate relationships."
