Still Lifes of Fad Diets

Dan Bannino photographed still lifes of celebrity fad diets to look like they belong in a Renaissance gallery. According to Bannino, “With this series my aim was to capture the beauty that lies in this terrible constriction of diets and deprivation, giving them the importance of an old master’s painting.” The glorified versions of each diet’s food pickings are laid out on the table for everyone to grimace at and apparently, even 15th century nobles get self-conscious about a little extra weight in the middle. From R&B icon Beyonce to Henry VIII, ‘Still Diet’ divulges each celebrity’s nitty-gritty secret to maintaining their svelte figures.

Beyonce, Master Cleanse Diet

Lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, salt, and laxative herbal tea.

Bill Clinton, Cabbage Soup Diet

Bottomless bowls of cabbage soup to mix with other vegetables

Charles Saatchi, Egg Diet

Nine eggs cooked any way, glass of wine

Gwyneth Paltrow, Strict Detox Diet

Vegetables, almonds, pathe of nuts and lentils, room temperature water with lemon, green tea.

Kate Moss, Hollywood Diet

Alcohol and cigarettes

Lord Byron, Romantic Poet’s Diet

Potatos swimming in vinegar, poetry, and soda water

Luigi Cornaro, Sober Life Diet

400ml of solid food or eggs and 500ml wine

Henry VIII – The Banquet Diet

Pork, lamb, chicken, rabbit, fruits & wine (water was deemed unhealthy)

Simon Cowell, Life-Enhancing Diet

Big box of exotic fruits shipped via airfreight, which he uses to make fresh smoothies everyday, jug of milk to bathe in, and vitamin drops.