On Textures

Featuring a photo essay!

A few weeks ago, you heard me brag that I had written out an editorial calendar and was sticking to it! There’s nothing more humbling than announcing in a very public forum that your well-laid plans have gone awry, but at this point, I have some good practice. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this totally unscripted photo essay. Surprise! Next week, we’ll get back on schedule with a post about what to read when you’re in a slump. On Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for Campari peach galettes.

Two years ago, I started noticing textures in a big way while we were on a trip to Asheville, North Carolina. A friend of mine, also very into food and photography, was just as obsessively interested in these textures. We began to text them back and forth to each other on Tuesdays, and #texturetuesdays, the most popular thing I have ever done on Instagram except get engaged, was born.

For whatever reason, I usually snap these texture-porn pictures on my phone instead of my camera, but two weeks ago, during a visit to my parents’ farm, the stars aligned. A bounty of fresh produce was before me, the sun was high in the sky, and there was nothing planned for us but a beautifully empty afternoon. The photos I got to take that day are a celebration of the textures of vegetables—bumps, skins, hairs, sticky spots, and tiny little thorns. Nature is wild! Consider me awed.

Today, I’m sharing this photo essay in lieu of more words because sometimes you just need to see it with your own two eyeballs. I’d encourage you to click on each image to enlarge it and soak up all of that beautiful texture. Enjoy!

Texture Tuesdays at the Farm

Diversion or not, I’m kind of into the idea of incorporating some more photo essays in this space. Do we like? Hate? Love? Let me know below.