Cilantro Love

Jan 20, 2023

You Care Too Much - Jen Spinner Art Direction

Here’s one of a series of images I created with photographer Vicky Lam and stylist Christina Yan for the anthology You Care Too Much. We wanted to highlight our memories and experiences with food. For this image, I visited my love of the herb cilantro. Growing up, cilantro was always in our fridge. It’s a herb that’s prevalent in Latin American cooking and it reminds me of my mother’s and Abuelita’s cooking. There’s something about the fragrant aroma of cilantro that can lift my spirits like nothing else.

A bouquet of cilantro held by a hand as part of a project for a independent book called You Care Too Much by Spinner Design

I love the bold, graphic nature of the final image. To me, it’s a celebration of the feeling I get when I smell fresh cilantro. My favourite work are the ones that evoke a sense of nostalgia while still being contemporary and fresh. This piece hits those notes for me and it makes me proud to reflect on it!

A bouquet of cilantro, held by a hand. In front of a pink and blue plaid background.

The background of the image was created by piecing two napkins together that Vicky smoothed out in post-production. We liked the way the dill fronds added additional texture and visual interest, so Christina arranged those throughout the bouquet of cilantro.