National Avocado Month and Taking a Second Look

There was a time when avocados felt almost exotic.

Today they’re everywhere. On toast, in salads, on burgers, in sushi rolls, and transformed into enough guacamole to fill an impressive number of restaurant bowls.

For National Avocado Month, I thought it was worth taking a closer look at the fruit itself.

Most of us encounter avocados as ingredients. They arrive sliced, mashed, diced, or blended into something else. Rarely do we stop to appreciate how distinctive they actually are. The dark, textured skin looks almost prehistoric, while the interior reveals smooth green flesh surrounding one of the largest seeds found in common produce.

Photographing food often gives me an excuse to slow down and look at familiar subjects more carefully. When an avocado is removed from the grocery display, the cutting board, and the recipe, details begin to stand out. The contrast between the rough exterior and the soft interior. The subtle variations of green. The simple geometry created by the seed and the cavity it leaves behind.

Avocados have become so common that they almost disappear into the background of everyday meals. Yet they’re still one of the more unusual fruits in any produce department.

Sometimes a familiar subject is worth a second look.

More of my Commercial Food Photography, along with aviation, collections, and other ongoing projects, can be found at https://www.secondfocus.com You may discover something you’ve seen countless times before, but never really stopped to look.