The Russian-Ghanaian artist has been enjoying this dish for more than three decades.
Liz Johnson Artur utilizes her camera to deeply connect with the people around her. Her candid black-and-white and color photography captures the beauty, resilience, and complexity of the African Diaspora. Born in Bulgaria in 1964 and raised in Russia and Germany, the London-based photographer has documented Black life across America, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Artur’s body of work celebrates community and seems driven by instinctual curiosity. But her photographs aren’t purely observational, as she collaborates with her subjects to both embrace spontaneity and be intentional. When Artur was 22 years old and visiting Brooklyn, she stayed in a predominantly Black neighborhood with a Russian family. It was then that she began experimenting with her first camera and found inspiration within layers of everyday life, an approach that became integral to her practice. “It’s like when you start eating…you realize how hungry you are…and when it came down to pictures…I now realize…how hungry I was,” she mused while talking about her collection of photographs Untitled (PDA) from 2018 in which she captures a vibrant community of artists, performers, dancers, and clubbers in London. The recipe the artist chose to share with Family Style is a simple one very close to her heart. “A friend who decided to focus on raw food introduced me to this dish more than 30 years ago. It's been my comfort food ever since,” Artur explains. The red salad sits on a white plate atop a green backdrop, recalling the Palestinian flag (it is also a classic dish from the region), a subversive statement from an artist who unflinchingly documented the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and has donated a print in aid of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in recent months. Unsurprisingly, the following recipe for beetroot salad, in sync with Artur’s poignant photographs, contains history, both personal and political, captured in a seemingly simple delivery.
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw beets, grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, more to taste
- A lot of lemon
Instructions
- Grate raw beetroot.
- Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Serve on its own or in combination with bread and hummus.