Project Statement:
The conversation about what we should and shouldn’t be eating is growing louder, but how much—if at all—are our diets changing? To find out, I’m asking kids in the United States and abroad to keep a journal of everything they eat in a week. Once the week is up, I replicate the meals and make a portrait of the child with the food arranged around them. I’m focusing on kids because eating habits, which form when we’re young, last a lifetime and often pave the way to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, and a myriad of other health problems. There are better answers out there than the old school, Western diet of processed foods we’ve grown accustomed to in the last couple of generations. “Daily Bread” features many simple meals made from whole foods that can be prepared at home—a rebuff to the empty, packaged foods being promoted to us in big budget commercials. The deeper goal of this project is to be a catalyst for change and to link to a growing, grassroots community that is sharing information, learning from one another, and moving the needle on diet.
Artist Bio:
Gregg Segal studied photography and film at the California Institute of the Arts (BFA), dramatic writing at New York University (MFA), and education at The University of Southern California (MA).
Segal approaches his work with the sensibility of a sociologist, using the medium to explore culture, our identity, memory, behavior, roles, beliefs, and values. His photography utilizes stark contrast and juxtaposition to engage viewers and provoke reflection. He draws on his background in writing and film to make pictures that are single-frame dramas, with a sense of something that has or is about to happen.
Segal’s photography has been recognized with awards from American Photography, Communication Arts, PDN, Investigative Reporters and Editors, The New York Press Club, and the Society of Publication Designers. Segal’s portraiture and photo essays have been featured in TIME, Newsweek, The Independent, Le Monde, Stern, Fortune, National Geographic Adventure and Wired, among others.
