Henry Hargreaves on 007 food project Dying To Eat

007 was always a postwar fantasy man, living a fanciful life of excess and adventure. Yet one creative photographer felt there was something gravely missing when Bond transferred to the big screen, and it was much more akin to this column’s fantasies – the food. In the films, James Bond was rarely seen with anything other than a martini or woman on his lips, but not so in prose.

Dying To Eat is the latest project from food stylist Charlotte Omnès and photographer Henry Hargreaves, whose edible still lifes and bacon alphabet have featured in these pages in the past. Each image aims to capture an iconic meal and setting from Ian Fleming's original series of Bond novels. The photos are coupled with the matching extract from Fleming’s novels, ensuring that context is not lost once circulating in the vast online world.

Vodka martinis may have had a prominent role on screen but the facet that Hargreaves felt was really lost in translation was food. "The food was so much part of the experience of traveling and where Bond went,” explains Hargreaves.

“In the books it's something that really brings it to life, for me, in the kind of customs that go with food. To me food is something we can all relate to because it is something we all have in common. So that was something we really wanted to try and nail.”

The series of highly-crafted photos are littered with details evocative of the 50s and 60s era in which the books were written. “It is all those little crumbs that we put in there that make it special,” Henry offers. “Charlotte did the majority of propping, over the best part of a year collecting pieces one thing at a time from antique stores,” he expands. “She is also an awesome cook.”

Out of season or outlandish (stone crab anyone?) ingredients proved a challenge, but ultimately Hargreaves and Omnès achieve a re-evaluation of one of the world’s most renowned characters – no outlandish gadgets or gunfights required.