Chocolate! by Swaroop Singha Roy
In an exercise of creative ingenuity, the photographer transformed a simple box of chocolates into a compelling subject through a custom DIY flash-bouncing setup. By experimenting with lighting conditions and technical precision, the photographer moved beyond traditional food photography to capture a playful, evocative image. The shot was inspired by the wit of John Q. Tullius, reflecting a desire to challenge standard product aesthetics. This photograph is award-worthy for its resourceful use of equipment and the ability to find artistic potential in an everyday object, turning a spontaneous experiment into a polished, thoughtful composition.
Barry Cawston
Barry Cawston is a freelance photographer with a client list that includes English Heritage, The Guardian & The Sunday Telegraph. He also runs The Drugstore Gallery with my partner Soraya Schofield which showcases our work and eight other photographers. We have taken the gallery to the Affordable Art Fairs in Bristol, London & Paris and hope to exhibit at the New York AAF in 2012. He has won several awards for his photography Including The South West Art Award in 2011, the British Journal of Photography, Nikon Endframe Award. He has being featured in a TV art program called "'Show Me the Monet" this May. He has recently had two solo shows in London, one at Capital Culture In Covent Garden and the other at Sarah Myerscough Fine Art in Mayfair ( who now represents me).
Resonance Score Breakdown
Transparency Note: The resonance score (12.8/20) is calculated based on social engagement metrics collected before the award announcement.
Expert Photography Reviews · 5
The Architecture of Sweetness
We often treat the small pleasures of life as if they were merely ghosts, passing through our hands without leaving a trace. A square of dark indulgence, the snap of a wrapper, the sudden bloom of sugar on the tongue—these are the quiet rituals that anchor us to the present.
Read the reflection →The Weight of Sweetness
There is a specific gravity to small things. We keep them in boxes, tucked away in drawers, waiting for a moment that rarely arrives. We think we are saving them for a celebration, but perhaps we are only afraid of the emptiness that follows the consumption.
Read the reflection →Reviews & Comments
Share your thoughts about this award-winning photograph. Your reviews contribute to the community engagement score.
There is a quiet, deliberate stillness here that reminds me of the desert at dusk. Swaroop has treated these chocolates not as mere objects, but as a landscape of shadow and form. I find myself leaning in, sensing the soft, diffused glow he’s coaxed from the air. It’s an act of deep listening. He didn’t rush the light; he waited for it to settle, turning a simple box into a geography of profound, dark sweetness.
Sugar is a fleeting vanity, yet here, the darkness doesn’t merely frame the confection; it interrogates its substance. By bouncing light, Roy forces the chocolate to emerge from a void that feels almost existential. I’ve spent years staring at such surfaces, but this depth unsettles me. It’s not just food; it’s a confrontation with decay. When the shadows swallow the edges of the box, they remind us that everything sweet eventually surrenders to the encroaching night.
At f/8, the 55mm lens finds a crisp focal plane, yet the ISO 800 noise subtly softens the chocolate’s texture, creating a tactile warmth. The DIY bounce light avoids harsh specular highlights, allowing the cocoa butter’s sheen to resolve beautifully. It’s a clever optical compromise. I’m genuinely charmed by how the light wraps around those edges; it’s not just food, it’s a study in controlled diffusion. You’ve captured a delicious, fleeting physics experiment right there on the table.
Darkness surrounds the box. It’s a quiet stage. The chocolates sit in their paper cradles, waiting. I’ve spent minutes watching the shadows stretch across the cardboard. They don’t shout. They just exist. The light catches a single edge, a soft curve. It’s enough. I feel a sudden, sharp hunger for the stillness, not the sweetness. Nothing here is accidental. The empty corner is not empty. It’s the breath between the bites. A rare, disciplined silence.
One suspects the light cooperated on the first attempt. It often does, for the patient. While the DIY bounce setup shows a certain technical curiosity, I can’t help but feel the lack of a long, cold vigil. It’s a tidy bit of studio work, yet it doesn’t ache. I’ve spent weeks waiting for a single shadow to shift; this feels like a pleasant afternoon indoors. It’s clever, certainly, but it hasn’t cost the photographer nearly enough.