Photography by Ian L. Sitren

Posts tagged “surreal food

Celebrating the Fresh Tomato!

Today is National Fresh Tomato Day.

I said to my AI muse Emily that we needed something unique to dance around the subject. Something clean. Something elevated. Something that says we are taking tomatoes very seriously.

Emily said, “I have just the friend for that.”

A vertical stack. Vibrant. Healthy. Perfect for the arrival of Spring.

She takes a look at it. Considers it.

And of course, she dances around it.

This is where it shifts, uncensored, as Emily and her friend Ronnie meant it to be.

I try to keep it all intriguing. My food photography, pornochic photo adventures, and more can be found on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com


National Cupcake Day

Everybody loves cupcakes.
Today, Santa is cruising down the road in one. He got caught in traffic, which is why I’m late getting this posted.

The modern cupcake dates back to the late 19th century, when bakers began making small, individual cakes baked in cups or tins. They were faster, simpler, and personal, and by the early 1900s the word cupcake had entered American cookbooks and everyday language.

Since then, cupcakes have become cultural shorthand for celebration. Birthdays, holidays, office gatherings, and last-minute excuses all seem to circle back to frosting and cake. They’re indulgent, familiar, and quietly universal.

For National Cupcake Day, I leaned into that idea a bit literally.

If cupcakes have been part of our everyday landscape for more than a century, why not imagine one actually taking the road? In this short piece, Santa is behind the wheel of a cupcake of his own, cruising a winding roadway while other cupcake cars pass by. No rush, no spectacle, just the calm logic of holiday imagination.

There’s no message beyond that. Just a small nod to something that’s been making people happy for a very long time. Sometimes a cupcake is enough. Apparently, it’s even enough to get Santa where he’s going.

Not everything I’ve been working on follows a straight path. You can see what else has been moving through my projects at SecondFocus