Lady Gaga “Baby Food Diet“, ©Dan Bannino. The singer has allegedly been dieting on baby food to stay slim during her world tour. The already tiny star has kept feasting with this low-calorie food to maintain her slight physique.

By Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman

In our hyper-commodified consumer culture, food tops the list, and celebrity culture follows closely. Dan Bannino has blended both in his projects, Still Diets – Celebrity Diets as Classical Still Lifes and Neon Vanitas – Last meals of the Famous. Foods from the tables of the rich and famous are plated as art historical Baroque and Rococo still lifes.

Gwyneth Paltrow “Strict Detox Diet”, ©Dan BanninoVegetables like carrots, broccoli, onions, chickpeas, lentils and almonds. Pathè made with nuts and lentils, room temperature water with lemon and/or green tea.

Bannino’s passion developed primarily from the world of advertising photography, not time spent in the kitchen.

“… I moved to London to pursue my intention of becoming a full-time photographer,” Bannino tells Creators. “After a few random gigs, I ended up working as a product photographer for a research company, shooting mainly food….During those months working with boxes and boxes of the most bizarrely edible things, I developed a fascination for the topic. I started seeing daily meals and food shopping through a different perspective.”

Over-the-top indulgence and privilege describe favorite celebrity diets – bizarre, edible regimens that satisfy our puerile appetites.

Beyoncè Knowles  “Master Cleanse Diet”, ©Dan Bannino. In April 2012 Beyoncé announced that she was going to stop all fad diets to ensure that she is a good example to her daughter, who was born in January. Beyoncé’s diet was really an unhealthy way to lose weight. It simply involved eating no solid food at all. The flush and laxative treatments add to the health risks associated with this method.

Sophia Loren “Pasta Diet”, ©Dan Bannino. Italian actress and academy award Sophia Loren once said of her svelte figure, “everything you see I owe to spaghetti,” and if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for us.

New meaning is given to the phase “portraits of interior lives”, as we gaze at what is in guts of famous diners who have just slipped away from the table.  While Bannino states in a Vice interview that “he is not working from a position of cynicism or criticism…that he is merely following a historical art tradition in his works,” the viewer comes away from the images with a definite opportunity for deeper consideration and judgment.

Kate Moss “Hollywood Diet”, ©Dan Bannino. Alcohol & cigarettes.

Jaqueline Kennedy “Pearl Beauty Diet”, ©Dan Bannino. According to legend, her diet consisted of nothing but a single baked potato, stuffed with beluga caviar and sour cream, eaten once a day. Jackie’s favorite type of caviar, beluga, comes from a sturgeon found in the seas.

Karl Lagerfeld “The Lagerfeld Diet”, ©Dan Bannino. A few years ago the head designer for Chanel, decided to drastically lose some weight. After devoting himself to a strict diet tailored by weight-loss guru Dr. Jean-Claude Houdret, he lost 80lb within the year, then wrote a best book about it.

After viewing these sumptuous feasts, we pushed away from the computer screen stuffed and bilious, but wanting mouth-watering Memento Mori.

Elvis Presley, ©Dan Bannino. CAUSE OF DEATH: HEART ATTACK LAST MEAL: FOUR SCOOPS OF VANILLA ICE CREAM, SIX CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

We can taste our tears viewing the last meals of the lost superstars in Neon Vanitas – Last meals of the Famous. This effect, may be more from Bannino’s eye popping use of theatrical gels than the pathos of the luminary taken from us. Fandom craves communion with the famous, but a generous sprinkling of garishly-lit skulls reminds us that our hopes are in vain. Neon Vanitas is a cautionary reminder that, like us, the high and mighty digest food one bite at a time…and then, they die.

Marilyn Monroe, ©Dan Bannino. CAUSE OF DEATH: BARBITURATE OVERDOSE
 LAST MEAL: STUFFED MUSHROOMS , MEATBALLS, CHAMPAGNE

Kurt Cobain, ©Dan Bannino. CAUSE OF DEATH: SUICIDE LAST MEAL: CANS OF ROOT BEER

Jim Morrison, ©Dan Bannino. CAUSE OF DEATH: HEART FAILURE
 LAST MEAL: CHINESE TAKE-OUT, WHISKEY, BEE

Dan Bannino  was born in Italy in 1988. After living many years in London, working as a product photographer, he traded a full-time job for dedicating full-time to personal projects. Bannino’s work has gained International fame and praise and has appeared in major newspapers and magazines such as The Times, Vice, Nikon, Artnet, WideWalls, Elle, Cosmopolitan and many more.

Website: https://www.danbannino.com/
Instagram: @danbannino

Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman are photographic collaborators. As an extension of their long-term examination of the domestic realm, their current work addresses climate change, consumption and connection through food.

Website: www.ciurejlochmanphoto.com
Instagram: @barbandlindsaycollaborate