When Tessa Kölb was a child, she did not come home from school and watch cartoons. Kölb came home and watched “Food Network” — absorbing everything, including recipes, food knowledge, techniques, you name it.

In July 2022, Kölb founded 1812 Food Haus, a styling and photography business where Kölb creates food sets that could win first place in “most photogenic” in order for brands to bring their products to life through a screen. 

The artform requires stylists and photographers to carefully teeter the line between making food look incredible versus inedible. 

“I fell in love with the meticulous and creative aspects of it,” Kölb said of food styling. “Here I am at 30, doing what I’ve dreamed of, and have built a whole business around it.”

Watching “Food Network” combined with paying attention to her grandmother, Kölb had her own version of a childhood culinary school. Her grandmother taught her how to cook using family cookbooks and recipes. Kölb’s 1812 Food Haus pays homage to her Louisiana and German roots — “1812” represents the year Louisiana became a state, while “Haus” represents her family who immigrated from Germany in the 1800s.

“I’m very proud of my heritage and my family because they’ve worked really hard to get to where they are. I’m here because of sacrifices,” she said. “Louisiana is centered around food and family, and I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am without my family.”

From 2011 to 2013, Kölb attended the Louisiana Culinary Institute after high school and dreamt of working on sets to make food look drool-worthy in movies, commercials, advertisements and more. 

Before starting her own business, she took on various projects to assist with product photoshoots and food styling. Now, when she’s not working with her own clients, she serves as the store manager at The Meatatory in Prairieville and helps to curate the weekly menus.

With her eye for photography, talent for styling and knowledge of food science, Kölb makes people eat with their eyes first. 

“That’s the quote I live by in my business,” she says, “because if something doesn’t look appetizing, no one is going to want to eat it.”

Food stylists often have creative and organizational skills, along with a knack for spotting textures, lighting, shadows, etc. Kölb noted that her job is all about trial and error — plus configuring with camera settings and constantly rearranging items in tiny movements. A normal photoshoot can take anywhere from two to six hours from shooting a set to post-production.

Just over one year in business, Kölb has worked with brands like Cheba Hut, Community Coffee, Lundi Baking Co., Don Beto Taqueria in Gonzales and Boudreaux’s Backyard.

Maameefua Koomson of Quirk-E Creative, a social media marketing agency, saw the value that Kölb could bring to the social strategy she was building for her client Mochinut, which is located inside MoMo Tea. Every week, Mochinut releases new flavors of chewy rice flour doughnuts, and Kölb captures each one.

Koomson says Kölb’s value is immeasurable.

“I put so much value in (Kölb’s work) because it saves me time, but it also allowed me to get the vision that I was looking for with her really quickly,” Koomson said. “It’s worth the investment because I get the pictures that I’m looking for, and the clients are happy. It just all works really well as a team.”

While Koomson said she wasn’t aware of the food styling field before this year, she has noticed an increase in engagement on the client’s social media page.

“People are noticing the photos,” Koomson said. “It does make an impact outside of just looking pretty.”

Kölb says that the hardest part of her job is going to bat for herself, but she’s learning how to overcome imposter syndrome. She listens to food photography podcasts, watches YouTube videos and follows food photographers to improve on her own work and gather inspiration.

“I am a perpetual student of food. There’s always something new to learn,” she said.

Kölb is dabbling into hard light photography and is looking forward to moody, fall photoshoots. Her dream client is a major ice cream company where she can work with fun flavors and cool ingredients or props.

“I hope to share food art and let people see that you do eat with your eyes first,” Kölb said. “Really good food photography emulates that and lets your brain know that what you’re about to eat is worth it.”