PLATING FOR A PURPOSE · CHEF PORTRAIT SERIES
Behind every plate is a person.
Five chefs. Five careers. Five honest reflections on what it means to build a life in hospitality.
Created for Healthy Mind Menu's 2024 Plating for a Purpose dinner, this photographic portrait series now lives on as an ongoing educational resource about the people, pressures and possibilities within hospitality.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Portraiture as a way of listening.
Hospitality is often experienced through what gets served. This series asks us to look at who is doing the serving.
Photographer and anthropologist Ophélie Barbeau combined portrait photography with observation and interviews to reveal the stories, memories, pressures and values carried by each chef.
The project was created to move beyond job titles and culinary reputation — toward the human experience behind the kitchen door.
THE PORTRAIT SERIES
Meet the chefs.
Click a portrait to read the full story, see more images and explore each chef's reflections on work, creativity, leadership and wellbeing.
Leigh Power
On team culture, mentoring young chefs and why a life outside the kitchen matters.
READ LEIGH'S STORY →
Shane Middleton
On perfection, pressure, creativity and the shift toward more collaborative kitchens.
READ SHANE'S STORY →
Brian Cole
On learning without guidance, communicating under pressure and becoming the manager he wished he'd had.
READ BRIAN'S STORY →
Dario Pompucci
On creative identity, stress, exercise and the underrated importance of taking a proper break.
READ DARIO'S STORY →
Todd Stuart
On longevity, collaboration, protecting time away from work and creating a sustainable kitchen.
READ TODD'S STORY →WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THEIR STORIES?
Five conversations worth taking back to your workplace.
Culture is learned
The behaviours leaders tolerate, model and reward become part of how a kitchen operates.
INSPIRED BY LEIGH'S STORYCollaboration beats fear
High standards don't require humiliation. Teams can pursue excellence while still supporting one another.
INSPIRED BY SHANE'S STORYTeach the why
Training and communication matter. People grow faster when they're supported to understand, not just execute.
INSPIRED BY BRIAN'S STORYBreaks matter
Time away from pressure is not wasted time. It can help people reset, regain perspective and work more effectively.
INSPIRED BY DARIO'S STORYLongevity is designed
Sustainable hours, retention and respect for life outside work are part of building a strong kitchen.
INSPIRED BY TODD'S STORYUSE THIS WITH YOUR TEAM
Start a conversation.
Choose one portrait, read the chef's story together and use these prompts as a starting point for a team conversation.
What part of this chef's experience feels familiar to our workplace?
What has changed for the better in hospitality since we started?
What behaviours help people feel supported when service gets difficult?
What is one part of our workplace culture we want to protect?
What is one thing we could do differently?
THE IMAGE
IS ONLY
THE START.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Ophélie Barbeau
Photographer. Anthropologist. Visual storyteller.
Ophélie's approach combines photographic portraiture with ethnographic methods including observation and interviews.
The result is not simply a record of five chefs. It is a study of the people behind hospitality — their memories, identities, challenges, relationships and changing expectations of work.
That combination of image and testimony is what allows the series to continue functioning as both an artwork and a resource.
THE 2024 PROJECT
Created for one night. Built to last longer.
Plating for a Purpose was originally commissioned around Healthy Mind Menu's 2024 Annual Fundraising Dinner.
The dinner brought together 180 guests and raised $89,000 to support mental health and wellbeing initiatives for Western Australia's hospitality industry.
The portrait series gave that night a life beyond the event: preserving the voices of the chefs and creating material that can continue to educate, inspire and start conversations.
Read about the 2024 dinner →HOSPITALITY IS HUMAN
Look beyond the plate.
Every venue is full of stories like these. The more we understand the people behind hospitality, the better placed we are to build an industry where talent and wellbeing can exist together.