Patricia Niven photographer

24/06/2026

This absolutely gorgeous cook book (racing green fabric cover, with gold font & design!) for Bubala by Marc Summers was created over sunny, gentle shoot days with a fun, engaged, thoughtful team. 

Capturing the classic dishes of a much loved Middle-Eastern inspired vegetarian restaurant requires consideration & a lightness of touch and on our shoot days, food stylist , one of the calmest, most unflappable people I know, would plate up beautiful dish after beautiful dish, while prop stylist Anna Wilkins complimented the food with gorgeous natural plates & surfaces.

Bubala is all about feasting & sharing but each dish tastes incredible by itself too. I love the idea of making a little or lot, to feed friends & loved ones, or simply yourself. 

If you’re in or near London, visit one of their three restaurants (with a Covent Garden branch on the way) for some of the most tasty, fire cooked food I’ve had a long time, served by the happiest team. 

Also - everything you may have heard about the Potato Latkes is completely true… visit a Bubala soon (this really is the food I want to be eating right now, in sunny London!), or make your own from their wonderful book!

A lovely group of people on this project:
Food Stylist: 
Food Styling Assistant: Katie Smith
Prop Stylist: Anna Wilkins
Assistant & Retouching: Sam Reeves
Publishing Director:  at Quadrille
Senior Commissioning Editor: 
Design Manager: Katherine Case
Designer: 
Recipe developers, testers & ghost writers: Rosie Shennan & 

19/06/2026

Hello! 
We are food stylist Katie Smith, food photographer Patricia Niven & prop stylist

Next Saturday 27 June, we are offering a smart phone food photography workshop featuring PROPS, in London & also online via Substack.

We explore how to take better photos using your smart phone camera & how to style with gorgeous props.

If you work in food & would benefit from a more props-focused workshop to create great images to support your brand or clients, this workshop is for you.

During the workshop, you’ll have time to get hands-on, taking photos with props, produce & flowers.

Sign up for annual subscription on my substack https://patricianiven1.substack.com/ & you’ll get ’fly on the wall’ access to our workshop via Substack Live.

DATE: Saturday 27 June 2026
TIME: 1:00pm - 4:30pm
VENUE: & online via my Substack Live

Sign up via Linktr.ee in my bio

12/06/2026

You can now find me on Substack (please do!) -

Australian-born Patricia Niven is an award winning food and portrait photographer. Her work is known for its rich, textural style and timeless luminosity. Click to read Patricia Niven, a Substack publication. Launched 18 minutes ago.

03/06/2026

A recent delicious project was French Classics: Easy & Elevated Dishes to Cook at Home by . Our incredibly knowledgable, experienced & conveniently French food stylist , working alongside Matt, provided us with a masterclass in French cooking, along with deeply layered flavours & lots of butter. 

Matt is a classically trained chef with a French cuisine obsession. He co-owns both & in London & has just a few (million!) people who watch his every move in his online recipe videos. 

I think I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed by the idea of cooking French food but watching Matt, Valerie & her amazing assistants in the kitchen made it all seem (mostly!) achievable. The results were truly delicious.

Once the food was ready, our incredible prop stylist would thoughtfully round up a few items & then effortlessly shake out a linen, collate a few glasses, nudge a spoon into position, perhaps tile the floor (!) & then the whole image would come together so naturally, so beautifully. It’s very peaceful watching someone in their flow.

Some of this book was shot in beautiful Nice, where the markets - fish, veg, fruit - were, of course, incredibly seasonal, local & fresh. I also really loved the baked goods & coffee at .

Shout out to .pup who films & edits with Matt; a wonderful travel companion & her granny’s bestie happened to own the most legendary restaurant in Nice !

A really wonderful team on this project:
Food Stylist: 
Food Styling Assistants:  & 
Prop Stylist: 
Assistant & Retouching: .peter.reeves
Publisher:  at 
Senior Editor: .gill
Editor: Lucy Bannell
Designer: 

29/05/2026

Hello friends - I’m happy to share some images from a recently published cook book that I was so fortunate to photograph- ’s The Red Sea. It features 100 family recipes and stories from Saudi Arabia.

Madeeha was a finalist on Masterchef & captured viewers’ hearts as she publicly shared her grief surrounding the passing of her father. Her debut cook book is dedicated to him (Aba Jan) & Madeeha shares many beautiful moments & recipes inspired by him.

I really loved talking with & learning from Madeeha as we worked together. The influence of the Silk Route (which of course makes me think of ’s book Silk Roads: A Flavour Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing) can be seen as you flick through the pages - Egypt, Lebanon, North Africa, Syria, Turkey, Yemen. As well as Indonesian flavours, via the Indonesian quarter of Jeddah.

And hearing of Madeeha’s Saudi Arabia (including the impact of the Gulf War, particularly on food supply chains) - Yanbu, Jeddah (where Madeeha grew up), Mecca & Corniche, as well as holidays on the Farasan Islands - really brought this region to life for me. The incredible complexity & diversity is so evident in the flavours of the recipes, so layered & bright, vibrant & moreish!

A wonderful team on this project:
Food Stylists:  &
Food Styling Assistant: 
Prop Stylist: 
Assistant & Retouching: .peter.reeves
Publisher: Ella Chappell at 
Designer: 

22/05/2026

Happy Friday, friends! 🌞

I’ve now delivered a bunch of smart phone food photography workshops with the wonderful food stylist  where we explore how to take better photos using your smart phone camera.

On Saturday 27 June, we will be joined by amazing prop stylist . Max works on cook books, with food & drink brands & you may have seen his work in Waitrose magazine. His previous experience in costume means he has a great eye for fabric, a penchant for car boots & loves to set a scene.

Scroll through the carousel to see some images of a wonderful selection of props Max has gathered for recent projects.

During the workshop, you’ll have time to get hands-on with props & taking photos & you’ll be able to ask us any questions relating to prop styling, food styling or photography that you might have.

If you work in food & would benefit from a more props-focused workshop to create great images to support your brand or clients, this workshop is for you.

We’ll cover lighting, angles, composition and most especially props.
Katie will bake us some tasty treats to photograph - and eat!

Join us, it’ll be fun! Link in bio to book via my Linktr.ee or on my website patricianiven.com under Workshops.

DATE: Saturday 27 June 2026
TIME: 1:00pm - 4:30pm
COST: £275 (inc. VAT 20%)
VENUE: George’s Road Studio (above Holloway Model Bakery), 66 George’s Road, London N7 8JN

If you’ve joined us on a previous workshop, DM me for the discount code for this one💫

29/04/2026

This is a special one!
I’ve now delivered a bunch of smart phone food photography workshops with the wonderful food stylist , where we explore how to take better photos using your smart phone camera.

On Saturday 27 June, we will be joined by the really amazing prop stylist . Max works on cook books, with food & drink brands & you may have seen his work in Waitrose magazine. His previous experience in costume means he has a great eye for fabric, a penchant for car boots & loves to set a scene. I shot with Max on an Italian cook book called Veganissimo! & he brought such beautiful items, particularly fabrics, & a joyous energy to the project.

We’ll run a little longer than some of our previous workshops, so you’ll have time to get hands-on with props & taking photos & you’ll be able to ask us any questions relating to prop styling, food styling or photography that you might have.

If you or someone you know would like & benefit from a more props-focused workshop, we’d love you to join us!

If you work in food & want to create great images to support your brand or clients, this workshop is for you.

We’ll cover lighting, angles, composition and most especially props.
Katie will bake us some tasty treats to photograph - and eat!

Join us, it’ll be fun! Link to book in my Linktr.ee in bio or on my website patricianiven.com under Workshops.

DATE: Saturday 27 June 2026
TIME: 1:00pm - 4:30pm
COST: £275 (inc. VAT 20%)
VENUE: George’s Road Studio (above Holloway Model Bakery), 66 George’s Road, London N7 8JN

If you’ve joined us on a previous workshop, DM me for the discount code for this one💫

03/04/2026

Delighted that this produce image, shot in Bangalore by me with incredible stylist for ’s cook book has been shortlisted in the

Huge thanks to .blooms for the perfect little alley, which I just kept wanting to come back to shoot in.💫

Thanks also to .jpg 🌸

And to the marvellous 🫶🏻