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PHOTOS BY PRIYANI KARIM

30 SPRING 2016
S
ome people may sit
down at a restaurant,
quickly scan through
the menu and dig in
as soon as the food
arrives, but not college
student-turned-food
Instagrammer Priyani Karim.
During brunch (her favorite meal of the
day) at Kanela Breakfast Club in Chicago,
Karim didn’t need a menu. She had already
spent time looking online to figure out
what she thought would photograph
best for Instagram. When the waitress
arrived, Karim promptly ordered a gooey
mac and cheese appetizer and a main
course of fluffy blueberry pancakes—an
uncommon pairing of dishes, but according
to Karim, sometimes you have to do it for
the Insta.
When the food arrived, she paused
before eating to take numerous photos on
her iPhone, finding the perfect angle for
every plate. She edited her favorite shots for
brightness and contrast using photo editing
apps VSCO and Afterlight, then posted
them on Instagram for her more than 14,000
followers to see.
Karim, a freshman at the University of
Chicago, runs @Yum4MyTum, a popular
Instagram account dedicated to pictures of
mouthwatering food from the Chicagoland
area.
Ever since the launch of Instagram in
2010, the appetite for food-centric social
media has grown, changing the way people
dine and turning the average person into a
food critic. Karim jumped on the trend in
2013 when she was in 10th grade.
“I didn’t intend for the account to become
as serious as it is now,” Karim said. “I tried
to think of the silliest Instagram handle that
I could, and I added at least 20 hashtags to
each of my posts.”
What started out as a joke among her
friends turned into a full-blown passion.
“After noticing each of my photos was
receiving a substantial amount of likes, I
started to put more effort into my posts,”
she said. “I think it’s cool that there are over
14,000 people—even if they’re strangers—
who are actually paying attention to what
I’m eating.”
Yet Karim’s dedication to her food
Instagram is motivated by more than just
the likes. She genuinely enjoys sharing her
passion for food with others.
“I’ve been a foodie for as long as I can
remember,” she said. “My passion has been
influenced partly by my family—they’re
big on traveling, which has given me the
opportunity to try different cuisines.”
Karim has tried unique dishes from all
over the world. Some of her favorites include
Cacio e Pepe pasta served out of a bowl made
from cheese in Florence, coconut ice cream
served in a real coconut in Thailand and
crispy rice sushi from Nobu in New York City.
While it seems like running a popular food
Instagram is just one big eating adventure, it
doesn’t come without costs. It’s not always
Priyani’s tips
What are the keys to successful
food photography?
· Make sure your photos are taken
in bright lighting!
· Use different angles depending
on what you’re photographing. If
you’re taking a photo of a cake, it’s
probably not the best idea to get a
shot from directly above; it’ll just
look like a circle.
· You should be able to tell what
something is from a photo. There
have been so many times when
I’ve not taken photos of my food
just because it looks messy.
What are your best
recommendations in Chicago?
My favorite brunch places in
Chicago are Summer House Santa
Monica and The Hampton Social.
Get the chocolate chip pancakes
or the avocado toast. Roka Akor
and ARAMI are amazing sushi
places. RPM Italian is fantastic
and easy to get a reservation at on
weekdays. And it’s unexpected,
but the Three Arts Club Café
inside the Restoration Hardware
flagship store is one of the best
cafes I’ve been to in Chicago.
easy to balance college life and social media demands.
“The hardest part of running my food Instagram
is keeping my followers engaged,” Karim said. “I’ve
noticed that if I go too long without posting, I’ll start
losing followers or receiving fewer likes.”
Karim explained that in order to keep the attention
of her followers, she needs to find a good balance
between posting new content daily, but not posting
too many pictures that it overwhelms her followers’
feeds. Quality pictures have become somewhat of an
obsession for her.
“I’m subconsciously always thinking about if what
I’m ordering will look good in a photo or not,” she said.
The desire to post this many pictures would
cost a lot of money for anyone, but it places a bigger
burden on a college student whose main food source is
supposed to be a dining hall. Dining hall food doesn’t
translate very well to Instagram, according to Karim.
“The food in our dining halls isn’t particularly
appetizing nor is it aesthetically pleasing,” Karim said.
“Food Instagrams are so important because they show
us cooler eating places that exist. A photo of dining
hall food wouldn’t be helpful at all.”
To combat this problem, Karim has to spend a lot

“
of her own money eating out to maintain a steady
flow of pictures. When she’s running low on saved-up
photos, she relies on submissions from her followers
I’ve been a foodie for as long as
who direct message photos to the account or use the I can remember. My passion has been
hashtag #Yum4MyTum on pictures on their personal
accounts. influenced partly by my family—they’re
“A good account in my opinion is one that posts
big on traveling, which has given me the

”
consistently and features things that are either unique
or just really appetizing. I try to make sure that the opportunity to try different cuisines.
photos I post are of foods that my followers would
actually want to eat.”
Although maintaining a food Instagram can be a lot
of work, it definitely has its benefits.
“Running @Yum4MyTum is more of a hobby than a
chore,” Karim said. “Leaving campus [to go out to eat]
is a nice way for me to de-stress. Plus, I always have an
excuse to go to new restaurants.”
Karim has found other perks of the job—free stuff.
Several food brands like Halo Top Ice Cream and
JustSalad have reached out to her through the email in
her Instagram bio for advertising in exchange for free
goodies.
These food companies are examples
of how the food Instagram trend that
@Yum4MyTum is a part of is shifting the food industry
altogether. People now rely heavily on food Instagram
accounts like Karim’s for recommendations.
“In the past few years, Instagram has become an
important resource for finding restaurants that are
PHOTOS BY PRIYANI KARIM

new or have innovative menu items,” Karim said.

“Somehow it captures things that are trendy and
happening, and reviews in magazines don’t always do
that. Visuals are always easier to relate to than written
reviews.”

32 SPRING 2016