I\u2019ve been pondering for a while now: where do I take this food blog, Tchakayiti, next\u2026What about my food photography? See, we all start off with a purpose, but somewhere along the way, life throws us curveballs that make us pause and question it all. It\u2019s like peeling an onion, each layer bringing up something I hadn\u2019t fully admitted yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started Tchakayiti right after college, a little over 10 years ago, because I was frustrated by the lack of good Haitian recipes online. Let\u2019s not even talk about the photos. The few recipes that did exist weren\u2019t exactly appealing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then things shifted. Social media changed, requiring video content and all sorts of bells and whistles including windows into one\u2019s private life. Other more daring Haitian culinary creators popped up. My photos got stolen. I saw chefs using my recipes and passing them off as their own. I sent emails about my work being used without permission only to be met with silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But today, I realize how much I used to enjoy the back and forth with my followers, the little community that grew around my culinary anecdotes. I surprised myself as I saw my photography skills improve and discovered a passion for food photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, sitting here reflecting, it finally hit me: it wasn\u2019t just \u201clife.\u201d It was the lack of recognition, the abuse of my art. And, if I\u2019m honest, it\u2019s also me. I am not one to sit in front of a camera, film myself, or record voiceovers. I\u2019d rather let my pen and camera do the talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in today\u2019s world, that no longer seems to be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where does Tchakayiti go from here, if I can\u2019t, and don\u2019t want to, match the current energy on social media?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been pondering for a while now: where do I take this food blog, Tchakayiti, next\u2026What about my food photography? See, we all start off with a purpose, but somewhere along the way, life throws us curveballs that make us pause and question it all. It\u2019s like peeling an onion, each layer bringing up something I hadn\u2019t fully admitted yet. I started Tchakayiti right after college, a little over 10 years ago, because I was frustrated by the lack of good Haitian recipes online. Let\u2019s not even talk about the photos. The few recipes that did exist weren\u2019t exactly appealing. For about seven years, Tchakayiti thrived. I enjoyed every second of it. But then things shifted. Social media changed, requiring video content and all sorts of bells and whistles including windows into one\u2019s private life. Other more daring Haitian culinary creators popped up. My photos got stolen. I saw chefs using my recipes and passing them off as their own. I sent emails about my work being used without permission only to be met with silence. Meanwhile, life kept going. Haiti happened. Enough to drain anyone, enough to make you stop and wonder. So I did just that. I stopped. But today, I realize how much I used to enjoy the back and forth with my followers, the little community that grew around my culinary anecdotes. I surprised myself as I saw my photography skills improve and discovered a passion for food photography. So, what exactly happened? Today, sitting here reflecting, it finally hit me: it wasn\u2019t just \u201clife.\u201d It was the lack of recognition, the abuse of my art. And, if I\u2019m honest, it\u2019s also me. I am not one to sit in front of a camera, film myself, or record voiceovers. I\u2019d rather let my pen and camera do the talking. But in today\u2019s world, that no longer seems to be enough. Which leaves me with the big question\u2026 Where does Tchakayiti go from here, if I can\u2019t, and don\u2019t want to, match the current energy on social media?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\n