He is now working closely with Zhao Lei, executive chef of the French cuisine restaurant Fudao in Beijing.
"Cao's photos are clean and pure and show the original look of each dish or ingredient, which is also what I pursue in my cooking so that the dish should highlight the original flavor of each ingredient,"Zhao says.
According to Zhao, when he prepares a new menu, he would invite Cao to join all his meetings and discussions.
"Unlike some commercial photos that may lack soul, in Cao's photos, even though it's a still image, you can feel that it records the flow of time on that dish, which I think is quite amazing," Zhao says.
Zhao and Cao are also collaborating to create new ideas on recording food－from the fermenting process of pickled food to the pairing of raw ingredients and accessories.
They recently recorded the growing process of tea fungus as Zhao would like his diners to understand how his dishes are processed before they take a bite.
Zhao thinks it's a new pattern and trend that chefs would have their own long-term regular photographer to work together.
"In this way we spend more time together and we understand each other's ideas. I hope to accumulate more material to let the public know more about chef's work and ideas," Zhao says.
