Londonewcastle Project Space | Katie Wilson

Londonewcastle Arts Programme launches a new exhibition in Shoreditch next month called Fifty Chefs - The Hands that Feed London which tells the stories of the people who work in London’s favourite kitchens. The images from photographer/artist Katie Wilson are a culmination of a ten-year photographic project. From kebab shops and greasy spoons to the city’s most rarefied restaurants, and all the everyday eateries in-between, Katie has captured the intriguing faces and battle-worn hands of fifty diverse and dedicated chefs.

“I was fascinated by the scars worn with pride on the hands of the chefs I met,” said Katie. “I began to wonder, who are the people who cook for London? Not only the famous faces, but the sous chefs and kitchen hands; the dishwashers and potato peelers.” So began a project to document the Hands that Feed London. Rose Gray, Ollie Dabbous, Mark Hix and Fergus Henderson sit side-by-side with the Pellicci family of legendary Bethnal Green caf, Pellicci’s and Sevket Boyraz of infamous Chalk Farm kebab shop, Marathon Kebabs.

Shot in a raw documentary style, each subject was

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photographed on location, before briefings, or as they woke from sleep snatched between services. This is a look at the hard graft that goes on in the restaurant engine room; the blood, sweat and tears that go into making the serene and sometimes glamorous dining experience we’ve come to expect.

“Over the last ten years our interest in food has evolved enormously and as a result everyone has had to up their game - not just at the top end but local cafes too. It is us Londoners - in all our diversity - who have made this City the serious food capital it has become,” explained Katie. The exhibition is a collaborative work; writer Nellie Blundell has collected stories of the city and its kitchens to sit beside each image, and artist Caroline Hobkinson has created a banquet table revealing the often unlikely foods the featured chefs actually eat while working.

Proceeds from the sale of prints at the exhibition will be donated to London-based food charity, FareShare. The exhibition at Londonewcastle Project Space, Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, runs from April 3 - 12.

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