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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

For Consumed, photographer William Rugen documented every single morsel of food he ate over the course of a year. In an impressive feat of patience and dedication, he amassed thousands of intriguing portraits of everything from plates of pasta to handfuls of blueberries.

For Rugen, the process was a means of exercising his creative chops and of keeping his eye sharp through regular practice. While much of his photography career took place in relatively unpopulated areas and venues, Consumed encouraged him to feel more at ease with strangers watching him work. He describes that 2010, the year he created Consumed, as “probably [his] most productive year as far as taking pictures.”

Unlike most other food photographs, Rugen’s images tend towards the unfastidious, abandoning the glamour of advertorial imagery for the rawness of real life. He prefers plates that positively overflow with sustenance or are nearly emptied, almost lonesome. A self-described “adventurous eater,” Rugen finds visual richness in foods both exotic and familiar, rare and routine.

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

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© William Rugen / Offset

All photos featured in this post can be found on Offset, a new curated collection of high-end commercial and editorial photography and illustration from award-winning artists around the world. Offset is an exclusive category channel partner on Feature Shoot.

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