Photographer Ashley St George of Pew Pew Studio is behind many of Canberra’s food and restaurant photos. Photo: Ashley St George.
Who are you?
Ashley St George. I am the co-owner of Pew Pew Studio, a food photographer and sometime writer.
Tell me about your business.
Pew Pew Studio is owned by my husband, Rohan Thomson, and me. We’re a photographer couple! We photograph everything, but I specialise in food and hospitality.
What led you to specialise in food photography?
I’ve been interested in food and the hospitality industry for a long, long time. In primary school, I started collecting Donna Hay magazines, and I’ve always loved the aesthetic of food magazines in terms of styling, but also recipes and cooking.
I think that really developed my visual style, so when I started doing photography in high school, that’s the style I naturally gravitated towards.
I did a double degree, art history and photography, thinking I might want to work in galleries, but I realised by the end of the degree that I did not want an office job! My work is active, and I get to talk to people all day about what I love, so it’s actually my dream job now.
Do you have a philosophy you follow when shooting food?
My approach is to try to convey the feeling of the moment, or the dish, or the situation. That might be through the ambience of the restaurant, or trying to show the tastiest part of the dish through that visual. Sometimes that involves a styling element too, especially for a book or magazine rather than a restaurant shoot.
Fresh out of uni, I did some work experience with a food stylist in Sydney who used to work with Donna Hay and then worked with Delicious, so that was a great insight into the industry of magazine shooting.
Ashley’s photography sometimes requires her to style photos, like this shot taken for Canberra Cellar Door. Photo: Ashley St George, Pew Pew Studio.
Do you cook much for yourself at home?
I would love to be eating out more but I love cooking at home so much I don’t want to miss out on the chance to cook something new! I have a big collection of cookbooks – my husband would say I have too many – and I actually read cookbooks before I go to bed.
Do you have a signature dish?
According to my husband, it’s prawn pasta. But I don’t like to cook the same things too often because I get sick of them, so every night is different.
What’s an underrated Canberra venue that you love?
Raijin in Mackellar. They are so friendly and the food is always delicious. Their yaki udon is amazing, and they used to have some beautiful enoki mushrooms with soy sauce and butter. Their black curry is one of my favourites.
Mork and Benn Ratanakosol are two Canberra hospo icons Ashley admires (and photographs). Photo: Ashley St George, Pew Pew Studio.
Who do you admire in the Canberra food scene?
There are so many people! And I feel very lucky to work closely with them.
The Minima boys, Benn and Mork Ratanakosol, they’re always inspiring me with how generous they are with their personalities and their hospitality. It really feels like you’re dining with them in their home.
Gus Armstrong from EightySix is an incredible mentor for many in the industry.
And I have to add Caitlin Baker. She is creating wine education sessions, hospitality supports and symposiums here, there and everywhere to make the industry in Canberra and wider a better place.
Where’s the best place for a coffee in Canberra?
Barrio. I love that they make their own almond milk. I used to do yoga every morning at a nearby studio, so it was my everyday coffee place for a long time. It holds a very comforting place in my heart.
Where do you go out for a drink?
Cork and Glass in Yarralumla. It’s very casual. Also, Bar Rochford, if I feel like something a bit funky – I do like a natural wine.
Bar Rochford sits atop many lists for the best bars in Canberra. Photo: Ashley St George, Pew Pew Studio.
Who is your dream dinner party guest, and what would you make them?
I find hosting really difficult! I don’t have the concentration to cook properly and also talk to people, so I’m going to choose my own host who will cook for me!
Alison Roman is top of my list. She seems so bubbly, and I would love to sit down and chat about the nitty-gritty of food with her.
I would like her to cook me any of her dishes, preferably a multi-course one. I’m such a planner, so what I love about going to a dinner party is that I can be totally surprised!
What is your current food obsession?
Gochujang! I recently visited a small Korean restaurant in Sydney called Sang by Mábasa, where they served a delicious gochujang sauce on the side. I’ve now been using gochujang in lots of things, to make a fermented chilli pasta, slow-cooked pork for bao, and I have my eye on a recipe for gochujang caramel cookies that I’d like to try out.
What’s the best thing you ate this week?
It’s actually something I drank at Such and Such: a fig leaf spritz. I sipped it and it tasted like fennel, which they told me was actually from absinthe, which I don’t usually like, but it was judiciously used and absolutely delicious.
What’s a food that reminds you of your childhood?
Apple pie. Not the homemade sort, but bought from the supermarket. My Grandma would always bring us a frozen apple pie when she came over for dinner: the cheaper the better!
What’s a normal breakfast for you?
It’s the same every day: untoasted muesli bulked out with Special K and some sort of seasonal fruit on top. I’m a cereal person, I don’t really like savoury breakfasts like eggs on toast.
Where do you shop for groceries and specialty ingredients?
I always go to the EPIC farmers markets, there’s this incredible lettuce guy there: they look like bunches of flowers! The Weston Creek Asian Grocer is amazing; they have great stuff. And Tutto Continental in Mawson.
A shot of a cocktail for the soon-to-be-opened Bar Outro. Photo: Ashley St George, Pew Pew Studio.
When you can’t be bothered to cook for yourself, where do you go and what do you eat?
Because my food cravings are very mood-driven, there isn’t necessarily a single go-to. But Department of Pizza is a good, easy option when I don’t feel like cooking. Anything with hot salami.
Where are you travelling next?
In September, I’m heading to Italy. I’m going to do a Camino in Lombardia in the northern part of Italy. It’s six days of hiking with a pack, staying each night in a different town. Hopefully, we’ll be trying out lots of nice Italian food and wine as we go!
Tell me something you love about living in Canberra?
All the hills and reserves. I’m a big walker and I’m spoiled for choice. I often go up Mt Ainslie, Taylor, Black Mountain and Red Hill.
What are you reading at the moment?
I am reading Niki Segnit’s second book, Lateral Cooking. Her first book was The Flavour Thesaurus and this is the sequel. She writes in such a funny, witty way. I’m getting a lot out of it: all these great facts and amazing flavour combinations.
An easy one to finish – what’s your go-to coffee order?
It’s not that easy, actually, because it changes every day! Depending on my mood, it might be green tea with honey, matcha with almond milk, a decaf long black or a chai.
Follow Ashley St George on Instagram, and Pew Pew Studio on Instagram.
