Kebab Seller Image Wins International Food Photo Contest

A photo of a street food vendor working at a smoke-covered oven has won a major food photography award.

Debdatta Chakraborty was named as the overall winner of Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2022 for an image titled Kebabiyana, which was taken in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Indian photographer took the picture on a busy street at night, as vendors fired up charcoal ovens to prepare wazwan kebabs and other street food.

“In today’s world, more than ever, we feel the need for comfort, for love,” says awards founder and director Caroline Kenyon.

“There is so much to reassure us here – the beautifully captured billowing embrace of the smoke, the golden light, the subject’s expression as he prepares the food for sharing.

“Sparks fly from the skewers, whose roasting we can almost smell. We imagine the warm, delicious aroma.

“This image, gentle but powerful, nourishes our soul.”

Thousands of entries were submitted from more than 60 countries across the world, and the winners were announced online via a livestreamed event.