Fifty Chefs

Shakespeare may have believed the eyes to be the windows to the soul, but we’re more with Sherlock, who claimed that by the fingernails and callouses “an individual’s calling is revealed.” We’re not sure what he’d have made of our soft writer’s hands – probably that we’d never done a hard day’s graft in our lives. Perhaps a point we shouldn’t pursue…

There’d be much more to surmise from the knicks and burns on the hands of the subjects of photographer Katie Wilson’s latest exhibition, though. She’s spent the past ten years working in kebab shops, greasy spoons and A-list eateries, photographing the hands that feed London. “I was fascinated by the scars worn with pride on the hands of the chefs I met,” says Katie. “I began to wonder, who are the people who cook for London?” And her study is fascinating, exposing the hands and faces of fifty chefs from across the Capital. Mark Hix and Angela Hartnett sit alongside the Pellicci family of the Bethnal Green caf Pellicci’s and Sevket Boyraz of Chalk Farm’s Marathon Kebabs.

It’s not just a chance to gawp at tattoo choices, jewellery adornments and personal quirks (though there’s plenty of opportunity for that too), because every print is also available to buy, with the proceeds going to charity FairShare. In their fight against food poverty, the organisation redistribute waste from the food and drink industry to breakfast clubs, women’s refuges and homeless hostels across the Capital and beyond, helping over 82,000 people in need every day. Food for thought as you sit down to an Easter feast this weekend.

3-11 April. Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, E2