JAVIER CORSO - Xiaomi

Spain, 2024

Eating with Your Eyes

Photographic Pairing

From “to pair”
n. The union of food and photography that enhances the diner’s experience.

We all know the importance of sight when eating a dish. Hundreds of studies demonstrate how our senses—and especially sight—affect both the flavor and the pleasure of eating. Photographic pairing takes this union of senses to another level, merging haute cuisine with visual narratives inspired by it, provoking the emotions they evoke in a diner.

A fine-dining menu presented with images instead of ingredients, a menu that becomes part of the offering at the restaurant La Salita in Valencia. This idea, promoted by Xiaomi, seeks to deepen and transform the way we perceive gastronomy.

“Eating with Your Eyes” represents the union between the cuisine of Begoña Rodrigo and the photography of Javier Corso. A new gastronomic experience that merges seven creations from La Salita with seven stories of craftsmanship captured with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

A new light on our gastronomy through a legendary lens. Two disciplines that, until today, had never been united in such an organic way as through photographic pairing, giving life to the new campaign of the Xiaomi 14 Series.

A Tribute to Craftsmanship and Passion for Detail

The Creation

The seven photographic stories portrayed by Javier Corso take us to nearly forgotten trades in Spain’s depopulated regions: artisans with family heritage or traditions as local as eel fishing in the Albufera. A chain of work hidden behind every dish, which too often is on the verge of disappearing.

This focus on “craftsmanship” as a theme arose, in the photographer’s own words, after “falling in love with the passion and delicacy present both in La Salita and in the way Begoña and the rest of the team work.” This love for well-crafted work and unique creations also speaks of Begoña’s cuisine and Javier’s photography—two “artisans” united through photographic pairing.

Each of the seven dishes that make up the “Eating with Your Eyes” menu carries its own story. The photographic project, whether through the origin or elaboration of the dish, connects each of Begoña’s creations with a local craft, highlighting through the chosen trade a characteristic feature of the dish presented by the chef.

A photographic pairing that crosses borders

The Journey

In a second phase of the project, Corso visited different locations across the Iberian Peninsula to create new photographic series inspired by the creations of some of the finest chefs. A journey of rhymes, textures, and flavors through José Avillez’s Lisbon (Belcanto); the exploration of the boundaries between land and the Cantabrian Sea with Jesús Sánchez (Cenador de Amós); and the unique ecosystem of the Extremaduran dehesa alongside Toño Pérez (Atrio).