Become Yelp’s Official Food Photographer
Is capturing a picture of your meal an essential part of your dining experience? Have you perfected your cheese pull or cheers boomerang? Yelp is launching a search for its first-ever official food photographer. This person will be the authority on all things phone photography, helping our audience discover their next great meal through the perfect shot.
On the list
To kick off the search, Yelp is also releasing a list of the most photographed restaurants of the year. See the top 10 below, or check out the full list here(opens in new tab). Your photos could help your favorite restaurants get on next year's list.
Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen
Bacchanal Buffet
Girl & The Goat - Los Angeles
Mama's Fish House
Olio e Più
Bestia
House of Prime Rib
Terry Black's Barbecue
Katz's Delicatessen
Traveler's Table
Methodology: This is a list of the most photographed restaurants in the US for 2023, according to Yelp. To determine this list, we identified businesses in the restaurants and food categories on Yelp, then ranked those spots based on how frequently users submitted photos between January 1, 2022 and June 29, 2023. To ensure geographic diversity, we limited to five per state. Finally, we consulted with Yelp Trend Expert Tara Lewis to zero in on what spots Yelpers were loving.
What do I win?
The winning food photographer will be awarded $10,000 to photograph great dishes and capture content from local hidden gem restaurants across the United States, while sharing their favorites on Yelp and Yelp social handles.
Yelp’s Chief Food Photographer will be asked to visit 2 restaurants a month to create 2 blog posts and capture content for posting to Yelp’s social media accounts and will serve a two month term, beginning December 1, 2023 and ending January 31, 2024.
How do I enter?
Applicants will be required to submit one entry of up to ten (10) unique photos of food or restaurant businesses added to Yelp pages by the applicant as well as a 30-60 second video, explaining why they’re qualified to be Yelp’s first ever food photographer. (See Yelp’s Support Page(opens in new tab) for steps on how to add a photo.)
Soy (@foodwithsoy(opens in new tab)), an American Influencer Award-winning digital media trailblazer known for trying different cuisines, leads our panel of judges. Participants will be judged based on their love for local restaurants, quality of photography and social media prowess.*
*To enter this contest, participants can visit cameraeatsfirst.yelp.com to apply for the role from September 7 to October 7, 2023. One winner will be selected on or about October 31, 2023. Winner must enter into an independent contractor agreement with Yelp to serve as Chief Food Photographer for a two month term. Please see the official rules here(opens in new tab).