La Mercerie

This project was reportage in its truest sense. At Le Mercerie, in Marseille, I captured the family lunch - the meal the chefs and staff cook and share each day before service begins. At heart the story was about resourcefulness and ritual, using what is already to hand so that nothing is wasted, and shaping a meal around whatever is most abundant. Here, that was the fish that arrived fresh and plentiful from the Marseille coast.

A shoot like this has no styling, just observation, and I followed the whole sequence, from buying the fish from the market, to everyone finally sitting down. Marseille provided the incredible light, but the heart of the work was the tradition itself, led by Harry Cummins and his team. What stayed with me was that however relentless the shift, the team still made time to stop and eat together.