My name is Murielle Banackissa.
I am a Montreal-based food photographer, food stylist, recipe developer, blogger, and educator.
If someone would have asked me, back in 2015, when I started dabbling in food photography where this passion would take me,
I would have never believed them.
Although my love for food began long before I picked up a camera, I never thought I could merge so many of my passions together to create the business I run today.
How it all began
As far back as I can remember, I was surrounded by food. Growing up in the Republic of Congo, my parents and their friends would regularly get together on weekends and share their special culinary creations around the dinner table. These gatherings always fascinated me: all those colors, textures, flavors were a feast for my 5-year-old senses. Ever since those weekend gatherings, my passion for food and cooking has never stopped growing.
After my family immigrated into Canada in 2002, when I was 8 years old, my passion for food flourished and followed me through my university years. The only weekends I would not spend in the kitchen baking cakes were during finals week! It was also during my university years that I started experimenting with food photography. Because of my great love story with food, it was only natural for me to start taking pictures of my creations and share them with my friends and family on Instagram. In a rather lucky turn of events, I landed a monthly contract to photograph ice cream for a local company. It was my first ever client, but opened the doors to a complete new world of opportunities.
In 2017, I chose to become vegan
and ever since, have not looked back.
Because of this big shift in what
I ate, I had to re-invent
myself culinarily speaking.
Initially, I gravitated towards the most popular vegan blogs at the time, making tons of oats, chia puddings, smoothie bowls, and tofu scrambles. However, as I became more comfortable with vegan cooking, I got tired of those dishes and was looking for novelty.
I started spending hours searching through the depths of the internet to find new, innovative, and flavor forward vegan recipes. Although there were (and still are) a multitude of blogs that checked all those boxes, I knew I could bring something new to the table. I could bring soul, flavor, and a fresh new perspective. I could also incorporate my growing knowledge of food photography to create mouthwatering moody images that truly highlight the beauty of vegan dishes.
What to expect on this blog
Of course, expect vegan recipes. But not any vegan recipes; ones that feature unique flavor profiles, exciting ingredients, that are not overly decadent, yet comforting. You will discover fun twists on classic dishes and recipes that celebrate my Congolese and Russian heritage.
My hope with this blog is that it inspires you to step in the kitchen, challenge yourself with new exciting flavors and techniques. I hope that you come out of tasting my recipes thinking, “wow, I did not know I could make this myself and that vegan food can taste this good!”
If you are into photography, I hope you find inspiration in my work to push you to pursue your passion, no matter where you are starting from. Remember, most of us start from humble beginnings, including myself…
If you are a business looking to work with me, discover my offerings.
Connect with me on other platforms: Instagram & Youtube.
Subscribe to my mailing list to stay in touch.
Shop my digital product.
Discover my free resources: