Tina Sturzenegger

In my photographic practice, I explore how food shapes our societal notions of identity, the body, and happiness.

For me, food is more than an object of consumption—it is a cultural marker, a symbol of social belonging, and a canvas for desires and anxieties. I am interested in how we are shaped not only by what we eat but also by what we present to the outside world: how food becomes a promise—of status, control, beauty, or a supposedly better life.

My work engages with these dynamics by linking the aesthetics of food with the ideals to which our bodies are subjected in a performance-driven society. Between abundance and deprivation, pleasure and optimization, a tension emerges that deeply influences our self-image. Food here becomes not only a subject but a mirror of societal expectations: a code that shapes bodies, conveys values, and reveals norms.

Formally, my staging draws on the visual language of the 1970s and 1980s, when design, fashion, and consumer culture were deeply intertwined. I employ this nostalgic aesthetic deliberately to address contemporary questions:
Which roles are we reproducing? How does the visual glorification of food in advertising and social media influence us? And how can aesthetic enjoyment coexi...

FMoPA - Florida Museum of Photographic Arts 2025
2nd Place Winner Conceptual

photo Schweiz 2025
Wild Card Winner

reFocus Awards World Photo Annual 2024
Bronze Winner
Conceptual Professional

FFL Fotofestival Lenzburg 2024
Select image, good luck, for the theme of "synthesis"

MIA Photo Fair - Milano IT 2024
Irinox - save the food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere + Room Service

Tokyo International Foto Awards 2023
Silver Winner
Categories: Portfolio - Food
Series: Room Service

reFocus Awards World Photo Annual 2023
Winner
Categories: Still Life
Series: room service

ACUMEN ART MAGAZINE N°37 2023
by Galerie Joseph Paris
L'apothéose de la photographie culinair
story about my photography

IPFO - International Photo Festival Olten 2023
Exhibition Photoville4600
4 images from my food still life series "room Service"

Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022
Silver Winner
Categories: Portfolio - Food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere

PX3 - Prix de la Photographie Paris 2022
Silver Winner Advertising - Food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere

ipa - international photography awards 2022
Official selection & Jury Top 5 Selection
Categories: Advertising, Food & Be...