Meet the photographer whose colorful food gradients has turned her into an Instagram phenomenon

Brittany Wright is more than just a food stylist, she is an artist.

The Seattle-based photographer's viral Instagram account, a visual diary of images noted for its organizational eye for color gradients in food, is proof of this. On her page, The Wright Kitchen, you will find dozens of photographs featuring ingredients arranged in rainbows and color-coded fashions; it's a strong reminder that run of the mill ingredients, like oranges and peppers, are much more beautiful than people often give them credit for. And every post, no matter what the main ingredient is, all comes back to Brittany Wright's one key mission statement, "I'm working on my life goal of teaching myself how to cook everything and anything. I enjoy the science behind cooking and experimenting with flavors. I see food as an art, and an opportunity to do something creative."

But Wright's life didn't always used to be so creative-focused. She spent five years repairing computers before stumbling upon one of her childhood loves: photography. Since then, she's put her 9-to-5 days behind her, focusing all her energy on not only being the best chef she can be, but also becoming a leading force in the food industry who can help change the way thousands of people approach everyday fruits and vegetables.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. With an impressive 144,000 following and slew of touching fan stories, Wright's incredible reach shows no signs of slowing down. So if you haven't had the chance to familiarize yourself with the artist herself or her stunning artwork, now is a good of a time as any to start.

Ahead, we talked to Brittany Wright about how her love of photography started, her relationship with food, and more!

And if you want even more Brittany Wright news, head over to AOL.com at 12 pm and 6 pm EST today for more exclusive videos, photos, and interviews!

Where did your love of photography originate?
That goes back my entire life. I got my first camera when I was 11 and I was raised by my grandparents who were always letting me use the camera with them. Once I had my own, it slowly became everything in life to me. But then I ended moving to Seattle and worked for some technology companies up here, repairing computers for five years. It kind of derailed my whole passion and I had to get myself back on the tracks. So I started teaching myself how to cook and I just found an opportunity to bring my newfound love with my old passion that I had, and it turned into what it is now.

The starting point of Wright Kitchen was to teach yourself how to cook. What has that learning process been like for you?
I'm a firm believer in having a lot of goals. For me personally it helps guide my life. The reason why teaching myself how to cook seemed interesting was that it was something I will never be able to finish. It's an ongoing process that I intend to do forever; I I have a lot of fun learning how to do something and knowing that I can keep tweaking it.

I'm also really passionate about music, too. It's a big part of what I do. When I start my day, I turn on music and when I'm done for the day it's turned off. It's almost like jazz, in the fact that once you know everything about music you can then break it down, which is exactly what I like to do with food. Once I learned these recipes, I realized how many ways you could branch off from it, so it's a never-ending quest that's really enticing to me.

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How did your fascination with color gradients begin?
I realized as I was cooking that I was the most excited about the ingredients and the process of dialing back to see where they came from. That question of where does food come from is essentially my biggest focus now, because I started to see all the varieties and colors that even just one ingredient comes from and it really blew my mind. I realized that if I was this excited about it, maybe somebody else would be too. So, I started focusing on it and instead of trying to make a recipe and then take a bunch of pictures of that recipe, I decided that if I spent all of that time making one thing it would be a better outcome, and so far it has been. My outlook on photography in general is that I want to take a still of what I am seeing or imagining in that moment, so that my art is essentially me just me showing how I view these ingredients just laying out at the grocery store or a market.

It's so interesting too because at a supermarket when you're looking at say an orange, you're really just looking at the peel and not what's inside.
Yeah, I always tell people that I'm trying to rebrand fruits and vegetables!

What was your relationship with food like growing up?
It's always been a huge part of my life. I was born and raised in San Diego and there is a lot of food down there; essentially we grew up in Mexico. There was so much Mexican culture around us, especially with the food and overall vibrancy. On the flip side, my grandparents who raised me were from The South. They grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, so they loved to cook southern food to us. I would go home and eat gumbo and okra and all that, and then I would go to school and tell everyone that I ate gumbo and okra but no one knew what that was. It made me realize that not everyone knew about this small section of food, so it made me wonder what else out there I didn't know about either. It got me curious to learn more. And I've always loved food, especially eating it and learning about what it is that I'm eating.



YouShouldKnow is a feature that showcases up-and-coming social stars. To see more of past interviews, click here. And come back at 12 pm EST for more exclusive Brittany Wright features, including how the one food cause that's close to her heart.

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