Turning a Service into a Product: How Food Photography Became My 90s Business Breakthrough

Turning a Service into a Product

(And Accidentally Becoming a Trendsetter)

Way back in 1994, post-liberalisation India was waking up to a new appetite — literally and economically. Real estate prices were climbing, spaces were shrinking, and many old, laid-back restaurants quietly made way for fast food joints.

Even humble idli–dosa places transformed.

Technology upgraded.

Menus expanded.

Speed became king.

Breakfast was no longer a leisurely affair — it was eat and move on.

In compact 500–600 sq ft spaces, customers stood, ate hot idlis, dosas, pooris, wadas, and walked out. What these joints didn’t upgrade, however, was how their food looked.

To attract customers, they needed food translites — but most owners were getting them shot at general studios and printed elsewhere.

The result?

Flat lighting. Lifeless food. Zero appetite appeal.

One fine day, a restaurant owner walked into my studio. He saw my advertising work, paused, and said something that changed my trajectory:

“Can you shoot South Indian food for my fast food joint? And maybe… explore this market?”

He also made an honest observation — not everyone would want to spend on assignment charges, multiple revisions, and the time food photography demanded.

That’s when the idea struck.

Instead of treating food photography purely as a service,

Why not turn it into a product?

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The Stock Experiment (That Wasn’t Supposed to Work)

I started shooting stock images of food —

Dosas, idlis, wadas, upma…

Then burgers, pizzas…

And I approached upcoming restaurants, hotels, bakeries.

The reactions were… entertaining.

One wanted idlis on a steel plate.

Another insisted on crockery.

Someone demanded banana leaf.

“Make it four idlis, not two.”

“More chutneys.”

“Less chutneys.”

“White background.”

“No, dark background.”

The list never ended.

Honestly, I thought:

If idlis are this complicated, imagine Chinese or Continental food.

Turns out — my fears were mostly imaginary.

Once people knew I was serious about food photography, they began coming in regularly. And here was the smart part:

👉 Any special request would be fulfilled within a day or two.

This meant:

• No dead stock

• Constantly evolving visuals

• A living catalogue, not a frozen one

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From South Indian to the World on a Plate

Within a couple of years, my catalogue exploded:

• South Indian

• North Indian

• Chinese

• Continental

• Bakery items

• Ice creams

• Hyderabadi cuisine

• And much more

Along the way, we unknowingly became food stylists.

We knew:

• Where to source the freshest vegetables

• Which markets to visit and at what time

• How food behaves under lights

• What makes steam believable

• What makes food look edible, not plastic

My reputation as a food translite specialist spread far and wide.

People came from abroad to get translites done.

I had:

• A sales representative working on commission

• A full-time carpenter fabricating boxes, frames, and display systems

• Clients asking me not just for images, but complete display solutions

We even did innovative work on display systems — but that’s a story for another day.

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The Real Lesson

Looking back, I realise something important.

I wasn’t just doing routine advertising assignments.

I was thinking differently.

I took:

• A service

• Packaged it

• Standardised it

• Yet kept it flexible

And turned it into a product.

Without using fancy terms, this was:

• Productisation

• Scalable creativity

• Early stock-based thinking

• And yes — trendsetting

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Why This Matters Even More Today

What worked in the 90s is even more powerful today.

The same thinking can now generate:

• Royalty income

• Licensing revenue

• Scalable photography & video assets

• Content libraries for brands

• AI-assisted visual products

• Digital archives with long-term value

Photography, video, and new technologies offer endless possibilities —

if you stop thinking like a worker and start thinking like a creator.

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In short:

This is how a service became a product.

And how following a different path sometimes matters more than following a crowded one.

All the best — and keep thinking sideways.

Cheers.

#FoodPhotography

#CreativeThinking

#IndianEntrepreneur

#PhotographyBusiness

#VisualBranding

#90sIndia

#Trendsetter