Client: Culinary Art School Tijuana

Client: Culinary Art School

Location: Tijuana, Baja California

Industry: Higher Education – Culinary & Gastronomy

Project Types: Event Photography, Editorial Content, Student Magazine, Promotional Assets

Founded in 2003, the Culinary Art School is one of Latin America’s top gastronomy institutes. With programs designed to shape the next generation of chefs, its visual communication must convey excellence, culture, energy, and innovation.

The Challenge

The school needed:

  • Scalable content production across dozens of events and workshops

  • Brand-aligned editorial photography for web, magazine, and social use

  • Student-focused storytelling for recruitment and graduation promotions

  • A photographer who understood hospitality, education, and marketing

As an alumnus with a marketing degree and experience in gastronomy, I offered a unique perspective.

My Role

Throughout multiple collaborations (spanning 8+ years), I supported Culinary Art School by:

  1. Photographing large-scale culinary events (100+ participants)

  2. Designing and directing photography for the first student magazine

  3. Capturing chef masterclasses, kitchen training, plating workshops, and student life

  4. Providing content that aligned with the school’s brand and academic mission

Strategy & Execution

1. Event & Campaign Planning

Before each major event (graduations, culinary competitions, alumni nights), I met with school coordinators to define deliverables:

  • Shot lists

  • Timing

  • Visual tone

  • Brand alignment

2. On-Site Execution

Given the scale of the events, I used a documentary + editorial hybrid approach:

  • Natural lighting + directional strobes

  • Action shots: plating, instruction, audience reactions

  • Candid portraits of students & chefs

  • Clean compositions that could double as promotional material

3. Magazine Creation

I led the photography direction of their inaugural student magazine, designed to help students transition into the professional world.

It included:

  • Feature spreads for top students

  • Process imagery inside kitchens

  • Editorial-style shots of signature dishes

  • Personal interviews translated into visual moments

4. Delivery & Content Use

All assets were delivered fully licensed and optimized for:

  • Print (magazines, brochures, signage)

  • Digital (web galleries, ads, social posts)

  • Internal presentations and external campaigns

Results

  • Over 30 events photographed over 8 years

  • 100% content approval by the academic and marketing teams

  • Photos published in student recruitment brochures and web campaigns

  • Ongoing relationship as a visual consultant for culinary + institutional storytelling

Close-up of burning charcoal with glowing embers and cracked, ashen wood.
Fresh seafood including a fish, crab, octopus, and scallops on ice with crushed ice around them.
Assorted sliced fruits including avocado, apple, kiwi, pomegranate, and peach arranged on a wooden surface.
Close-up of fresh, green lettuce leaves with frilly edges.
Cauliflower roasting on a grill with some charring and smoke.
Modern hotel or office reception area with a wooden desk, a computer, a chair, and decorative items, viewed through glass doors with greenery in the foreground.
Indoor corridor with wooden panel walls, black metal wall accent, and small windows along the left side, illuminated by warm lighting.
A smiling woman in a white chef's coat with red glasses holding a clipboard, talking to a person in a similar chef's coat and cap in a professional kitchen.
Culinary art student decorating a dish in a professional kitchen.
A female chef in a white culinary school uniform and black cap is chopping beets on a wooden cutting board. There are fresh greens in a metal bowl nearby, and two more people in white uniforms and black caps are in the background, indoors with wooden and glass elements and green trees outside.
Appetizer with smoked salmon, black caviar, green onion slices, and a dollop of cream on a round cracker
Culinary students in white chef jackets and aprons preparing dishes in a commercial kitchen, with a whiteboard filled with handwritten notes in the background.