Worth it? - A visual reading of spectacle, food porn and culinary capital in YouTube food media

Abstract: Studies on food media rarely engage with the visual aspects. If it does it is mostly concerning cookbooks, television and film. This thesis will take another approach by examining food media on YouTube, through the YouTube channel Buzzfeed and their series “Worth it”. Through the theoretical concepts of spectacle, food porn and culinary capital the thesis Worth it? – A visual reading of spectacle, food porn and culinary capital in YouTube food media studies the visual representation of food within a selection of three “Worth it” episodes using the method of social semiotics. The objective of this thesis is to study how food and food experiences are portrayed in this series. Focusing on the representation of the food, the cooking process, the restaurants and the emotions included in the episodes. The thesis results in an understanding on how we visually consume food. This turns out to be essential for the spectacle of food and the food porn. The thesis also show that the visual representations are shaped based on the culinary capital.