Tiny people on food
The account of Pierre Javelle, co-creator of Minimiam: model-railway figurines living on pastries, fruit and bread.
What it is
Pierre Javelle is a French photographer who, together with Japanese food photographer Akiko Ida, runs a project called Minimiam. The name blends "miniature" with the French "miam", roughly "yum". Since 2002 the pair have been photographing miniature figurines on food: model-railway-scale people living among pastries, fruit, vegetables and bread. His Instagram gathers these scenes in one feed.
Why we picked it
Pierre and Akiko met while studying photography at the Arts Décoratifs school in Paris, and Minimiam brings their two backgrounds together: polished food photography on one side, and on the other the comics Javelle grew up reading. So each shot is more than a cute picture. It's a tiny story with a setup and a punchline: skiers carving down a slope of icing sugar, miners digging through chocolate, climbers roped up on a strawberry.
The miniature scenes work especially well as carousels. First comes a close-up where the scene looks almost real, then a wide shot, and only then do you realise the "mountain" is a slice of cake. The project is organised into themed series, fruit and vegetables, sweets, sport and more, so it's fun to browse in blocks and see one idea played out on different ingredients.
Where to start
- Carousels that go from close-up to wide shot: that's where the sense of scale hits.
- The dessert scenes, the most recognisable part of Minimiam.
- The sports series: skiing, surfing and climbing on food.
- The Minimiam website, where the work is grouped by theme.
Who it's for
Food photography and diorama fans, anyone looking for ideas for their own still-life shoots, and people who love a good visual joke. Kids will enjoy it too: spotting the little characters on the plate is a game in itself.
Quick answers
What is Minimiam? A joint project by photographers Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida in which tiny figurines act out scenes on real food.
How long has it been going? The pair started the series in 2002 and are still adding to it.
What are the little people? Scale figurines of the kind used on model railways.
