If you’ll indulge me: Brian Xavier Bong, Singapore’s Fussy Foodie Photographer with an Articulate Artistic Vision
As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” — and Brian Xavier Bong, aka @thefussyfoodie_, is probably one of the most articulate communicators in the world of food photography. To him, capturing food is an unconscious bodily process, much like breathing.
Working as a professional freelance food photographer, Brian has built up an impressive portfolio of arresting snapshots, tailored to his diverse stable of clients who vary from renowned international brands to homegrown upstarts.
Channelling his ideas as a visionary, Brian is most renowned for his reinvention of popular foreign foods in a local context, in an exhibition titled “For Here or Takeaway”, looking at local food through his unique surrealist lens.
And as a food blogger, Brian is a prolific reviewer who also happens to be stringently fussy when it comes to a whole slew of harmless vegetables and seafood. So what truly empowers Brian Bong — the man, the myth, the Fussy Foodie?
1. Hello Brian, can you briefly introduce yourself?
Brian Bong: My name is Brian Bong but most people would know me better as @thefussyfoodie_ on Instagram. It’s not my main job, which is actually being a professional food photographer, and The Fussy Foodie is just a side project that is an extension of my passion for food.
Sometimes I take more experimental routes, and more artistic liberties, with my Instagram account and how I explore photography using food as the main subject. That also stems from my background of pursuing fine art photography at NTU, which expanded my appetite for exploring food photography with more purpose and creativity.
This also shaped how I view my food photography on a professional level as well — I tend to seek out clients who are willing to adopt a more creative approach, providing more pathways for my self-expression.
2. What are the pieces of work you’d say best showcases your skills and everyone should look at?
Brian Bong: I have this series of photos called “For Here or Takeaway”, put on display during the NTU ADM graduation show in 2020, which aimed to put forward questions on locals’ perspectives on the “authenticity” of many popular local food items.
Here, I translated timeless and ubiquitous classics such as Chicken Rice into more “Westernised” alter egos while retaining the underlying concepts and base ingredients behind them. Well, at least “Westernised” in scope to Singaporeans, in the vein of burgers and pizzas.
I also endeavoured to recapture the underlying spirit of these dishes so that they don’t feel like contrived recreations to fit my project, with an exception for the Prata piece. It featured cheese which, while sometimes used in Prata, still perplexed many people because the association was not instantly apparent.
What I loved most were the conversations that this body of work stirred up, which garnered a lot of attention and spontaneous thoughts. It was interesting to hear about what people perceived my work as — for example, a German man was incensed by the “Western” umbrella term instead of “Global” or “International”.
Then I had to explain to him that it’s part of the local colloquialism, in no small part due to the generalised “Western Stall” phenomenon of our hawker culture. This is an interesting anecdote that raises some eyebrows whenever I recant it to other homegrown friends.
On another occasion, I got the chance to bring MP Mr Baey Yam Keng through my works and he had a lot of fun making guesses on what each unique interpretation was based on. There was only the Prata piece that he couldn’t guess and it was funny since he had it for breakfast just that morning.
Aside from that, the conversations on authenticity with locals were also quite introspective, especially with an intriguing widespread perception of a lack of overarching visual identity for local cuisine. As a whole, these conversations added a lot more value to this series since fine art is also a lot more than just superficial appreciation and this is a project that carried a lot of meaning to me, as a passionate foodie and food photographer.
(Me: Were you planning a continuation of this series then, if I recall correctly?)
Coincidentally, yes. I was approached to collaborate on a documentary series on Singapore-based photographers and I expressed my desire to expand on it by reinterpreting local desserts into savoury forms. For example, I put an inventive spin on Kueh Salat by attempting to mould it out of Risotto. (Editor’s note: I would like to claim credit for being the inspiration behind it.)
On a personal level —partly due to the faint traces of Peranakan heritage running through my veins— I feel a strong connection with Kueh so I particularly wanted to explore it. There’s so much to Kuehs that many Singaporeans just aren’t aware of, assuming it to be just cheap, bite-sized snacks that can be found at random street shops.
However, I can spot a shift in the scene where Kuehs are given a lot more of the respect it deserves, with published works such as “Way of the Kueh” by Christopher Tan spearheading the movement. Ultimately, I think the process of evolution while preserving the roots really resonated with me and my philosophy behind “For Here or Take Away?” But I think this follow-up will require a lot more time on the drawing board for me to truly flesh it out.
Photo credit: Brian Bong
3. many times, we’d see lower effort Food photos getting viral in Singapore, more often than refined Ones, do you feel disheartened by that?
Brian Bong: Not really. I think the reality is that you can’t control the Instagram algorithm and virality is just something that comes when it comes, and you cannot anticipate it. If virality was the driving force behind my content creation, I honestly would have lost my interest in striving for deeper meanings in my visuals long ago.
There is a certain irony in where my favourite works that instil the most pride in me rarely garner that same level of popularity. It’s slightly frustrating — but I would not call it disheartening. In a way, it’s just amusing that the most casually taken photos, even for a professional photographer like myself, bewilderingly overperform.
Maybe to viewers, these iPhone shots feel more “organic” and “in the moment” — just like how I’ve received compliments for photos that I just casually took in natural lighting without much staging or are artificially lit in a way reminiscent of unstaged lighting.
I guess social media made it much easier for many people to have access to a platform to showcase their photography and some just correlate virality as talent, which I don’t agree with. In the end, getting the recognition that you deserve triumphs everything and there are a lot of respected photographers that are at the back of many people’s minds but they just can’t quite name them.
4. List out the foods that you are fussy about.
Brian Bong: This is going to be a very long list, possibly non-exhaustive. *laughs*
First and foremost, coriander and cilantro would be at the top. One of my catchphrases is actually “throw it in the bin” when I am presented with the aromatic — and that’s something that can help bring either solidarity or confused looks.
Besides that, I simply have a detest for a multitude of fish, seafood, and stemmed vegetables. In terms of seafood, I shun shrimp and most shellfish but I do rather enjoy fresh crab — even more than lobster. On the topic of fish, white fish is generally what I prefer —specifically varieties like Dory— but I have to admit I thoroughly loved a red-fleshed fish dish, using Seaperch, that I was fed at Chatterbox’s tasting recently. Go try it!
Vegetables are yet another huge landmine for me — I get disgusted by the crunch from many of the stems of vegetables. Even with leafy vegetables though, I had to go through plenty of training to appreciate certain exceptions like Spinach and Kang Kong.
I also hate innards (editor’s note: this is a more reasonable one) since I cannot tolerate the taste of iron. That extends to even luxurious bites like Foie Gras unless they gel extremely well in the context of the dish.
There’s also the issue of chilli, which isn’t as much a preference, as much as it’s a biological response. I haven’t been able to take much spice and heat since young so I can’t appreciate it even if it’s meant to perfectly complement a dish.
5. Some people may question your ability to be a food blogger with a stringent list of foods you can’t stomach, do you think that’s fair?
Brian Bong: I almost hesitated to start my Instagram account because of my slightly juvenile fussiness. It made me rethink my ability to feature food as a foodie because my brand of pickiness isn’t the type that comes from a place of demanding high standards.
Still, the final idea of being The “Fussy” Foodie as a whole really called out to me — there’s a playful sense of irony that fit into my quirks. Of course, some people raise an eyebrow when told about my fussiness especially when missing out on supposed “good stuff” like seafood. However, I’d say you’re not really missing out if you just can’t get your palate attuned to it no matter how hard you try!
That also brings me to an essential aspect of food blogger life — tastings. These are actually opportunities that afford me a chance at things I would normally avoid. I’d like to point out that I don’t stubbornly refuse to try, I just genuinely don’t find them enjoyable enough to be sought out on a normal day.
Tastings helped in that aspect since I approach them with an open mind and it’s under those circumstances where I’ve discovered that I can appreciate certain disliked ingredients, but only under specific preparation methods. These experiences allow me to be more adventurous and it’s part of a growing process for me, which also surprises chefs when I experiment with tasting food that I’ve rejected from them before.
6. As someone very particular and fussy about your food and is candid about it, what is a pet peeve of the current food review scene?
Brian Bong: My pet peeve is the trend of “food reviewers” who don’t “review”. As content creators or editorial staff, we’re given information in the form of press releases, which tend to be very neutral in tone — and many people tend to lift from them without injecting their personal opinions, which doesn’t help me as a consumer.
The aforementioned trend has become so rampant that I get people personally messaging me to find out my “real thoughts”, despite my detailed write-ups. This kind of hollow content also isn’t actually beneficial to business owners. If your photos are great, that might be a great way to drive traffic because visually representing a brand is important for social media — if you can’t, then I think a proper write-up is only fair to the business.
The status quo of the food Instagram scene in Singapore is that most non-professional content creators generally don’t get reimbursed monetarily but another interesting thought arose from this — with as many people already avoiding reviewing already, will we see the trend expanding if monetary compensation becomes more common?
7. A picture is worth a thousand words but you also write some of the longest captions out there, why is that?
Brian Bong: Back in secondary school, I was actually very bad at the summary component… *laughs*
Jokes aside, maybe I’m just not good at expressing all my thoughts succinctly, which is compounded by a habit of writing captions in a stream of consciousness style. With the added workload I have now, I can afford even less time to write —and subsequently proofread and then trim— my captions before posting.
I do see it as something I want to improve on because I often run into the word count limit and fragmenting captions into parts is rather jarring for the readers. But that is more pertinent to hosted tasting reviews because we are normally presented with a lot more food and I try to squeeze in as much of my thoughts as possible.
However, I would like to think that my long-winded captions have benefited people who take their time out to read, on this visuals-dominated platform. I am confident enough in my photography’s allure to people but I really appreciate it when I know there are people who read these supplements. At the end of the day, I feel the need to get all my thoughts out as a “food reviewer” but I’m working on the toning down of verbosity!
8. If you could collaborate with any restaurant in the world for a dream project what would it be?
Brian Bong: I actually have an idea that I’ve been developing for a long time that you could say is the opposite of “For Here or Takeaway”. Whilst the former elevates local items in the same creative manner as many fine-dining fusion restaurants, this new idea has to do with breaking down the elements of fine dining into its most raw, most fundamental building blocks.
As with my previous projects, I would like to see it realised in a local context and I can visualise the concept of a stripped-down form of fine dining in our iconic hawker setting. Picture something like this — a degustation menu being deconstructed to fit a Cai Png stall display, served by a fine-dining chef who’d swapped out his starched whites for the Cai Png uncle classics of shorts and tee.
As of now, it’s still just a concept but I’d like to see if there are any fine-dining chefs that would be open to a fun experiment. I would really love to work with some fun-loving chefs who will play with their food and are open to bastardisation, someone like Chef Dave from Burnt Ends, maybe… *hint hint* (Editor’s note: Interested chefs can reach out to him here!)
9. Describe yourself in tasting notes.
Brian Bong: I would liken myself to finely chopped Chinese Parsley in a well-mixed and well-layered dish, as much as I detest the ingredient. This ironically describes me perfectly as a person who is low-key and requires time to know. People will uncover more stealthy aspects of my personality with time and be surprised at different traits beneath what they originally perceived based on early impressions.
Hence, stealthy finely chopped Chinese Parsely — it creeps up on you like that, sometimes just suddenly. I think there is potentially more to myself that is usually hidden and those distinct traits are also acquired tastes, so maybe you’d find out things that don’t like in the end but those who can appreciate it will appreciate it.
10. What are 3 places that are last meal worthy for you?
Brian Bong: Mad About Sucre — I don’t think there’s any other place that has blown me away as consistently as they do with their plated desserts. There is so much thought, complexity, and surprise factor to their desserts. Plus, there is so much character to the place and the people.
Meta Restaurant — I’ve heard so much about this place, with many friends specifically listing it as their personal best Michelin meal in Singapore. Personally, I’ve never had a Michelin-starred meal in Singapore and I would want to have it once before I leave the world. *laughs*
Kuehstry — A home-based baker whose Kueh Salat just kicks the ass of every other popular bakery out there and gives them a run for their money. (Editor’s note: he’s never tried Candlenut’s sublime Kueh Salat though.)
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