About Harriet
« Never sacrifice taste for presentation – unless you’re a food stylist
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Professional experience summary
A seasoned food professional, I have over 25 years’ experience in commercial food styling. This includes designing & making the props food for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Avatar as well as packaging, advertising, and editorial work.
Since moving to Perth from New Zealand I have added photography to my skill set – specialising in food photography. I have shot for the New York Times as well as iconic West Australian brands Mrs Mac’s, Fogarty Wine Group, Clancy’s Fish Pubs, WA Potatoes, Bravo Apples, Mt Barker Chicken, to name a few (see my client list).
In 2021 I won the Marks & Spencer Food Portraiture category for my photograph of “Mulled Pears” in the prestigious Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year competition.
Regarded as the Oscars of the food photography world, 2021 was the tenth anniversary and the competition attracted over 10,000 entries from 80 countries.
With today’s technology I can shoot remotely executing both the styling and photography with as much or as little participation from you as you need.
I can work within the confines of a tight brief to realise your vision and work equally well when given free rein to create beautiful images that fit with your brand.
I’m equally happy collaborating with other creatives and regularly work with some of Perth’s finest photographers and stylists.
I’d love to hear from you if you think I may be able to help you with your next creative endeavour!
Career
A Cordon Bleu graduate, Harriet’s culinary skills and experience span a wide spectrum of activities across the food industry. This includes food styling, catering, film catering, demonstrating, recipe & product development, food writing, blogging, and photography.
Harriet Harcourt Food Styling & Catering was established in Wellington in 1987 and quickly developed an extensive range of local and international film, agency, corporate, and private clients.
As a food stylist, Harriet worked on high profile international television commercials, feature films and dramas, as well as stills photography shoots for commercial and advertising media.
Harriet was the food technician for “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, “King Kong” and “Avatar”; designing and creating props food as part of those stories filmed in New Zealand. This included major scenes involving huge volumes of food, as well as producing ‘identical’ food items in two different scales when required.
She has worked in remote and unusual environments and is highly adept at dealing with changing, difficult, and sometimes odd requirements that can crop up at times in the creative process.
Harriet has presented many successful cooking demonstrations both for charity and profit. Her own ‘Wild Woman in the Kitchen’ and follow-up ‘Warriors in the Kitchen’ (cooking for blokes) series proved especially popular for her informative and fun approach to teaching.
She has appeared on radio and television as a food commentator contributing to discussions on food trends, reviewing books, and sharing stories and recipes from her own repertoire.
As a highly regarded food stylist and caterer she has contributed to a variety of cookery books, including the New Zealand Quick Smart Cookbook and Quick Smart Gourmet, and written food articles for commercial publications.
In parallel with her other culinary activities, Harriet successfully manufactured and marketed her own range of ‘Harriet’s’ marinades and dressings over a period of twelve years – now made and sold under licence.
She continues to hone her professional skills, and maintains a keen interest in new ingredients, trends, and techniques.
A New Zealander living in Perth, Harriet offers her talents as a photographer, food stylist, recipe developer, and consultant in local, national, and international markets.