Before Brodie Nalywajko built a career creating bold food imagery for major brands, her journey began with a camera, a six-figure emerald ring and a head of broccoli.
While working in a jewellery studio in Leederville, Western Australia, Nalywajko was handed a camera to photograph pieces for its website. She became fascinated by the contrast between luxury jewellery and everyday food, pairing precious stones with supermarket produce and Japanese snacks.
At the same time, she was teaching herself recipe development and food photography through her award-winning blog, The Hungry Babushka. Created in a small garage studio, it gave her room to experiment and develop the playful visual language behind her commercial work.
That work grew into Pierogi Studio, the independent Melbourne studio Nalywajko opened in 2022. It now creates food photography, styling, recipes and stop-motion animation for major FMCG brands.
Since opening in 2022, Pierogi Studio has directed more than $125,000 towards supporting women and non-binary people rebuilding after family violence. A portion of the fee from every studio project contributes to this work, which now continues through the Pierogi Studio Fund in partnership with the Inner North Community Foundation.
After years spent bringing other brands’ ideas to life, Nalywajko’s debut cookbook, Too Polarising, turns the focus back to her own creative instincts.
“The Hungry Babushka was where I learned everything – recipe writing, food photography and how to trust my own slightly questionable ideas,” Nalywajko said. “As I began working with commercial brands, those quirks were gradually pushed down to fit the brief. After a while, I couldn’t push them down any further. Too Polarising became the place to let them all back out.”
Nalywajko developed every recipe, styled the food and photographed the book herself, shooting one day a week over six months. Luke Pringipas, who Nalywajko previously collaborated with on a smaller project for Just Food Collective, helped shape its visual world, connecting the photography, typography and colour while breaking familiar cookbook conventions.
The launch of Too Polarising brings together the curiosity that began in a jewellery workshop, the skills developed through The Hungry Babushka and years of commercial food photography. Most importantly, it gives Nalywajko’s most instinctive ideas room to stand on their own.
“I hope readers come away feeling that food doesn’t have to please everyone to be worth making,” she said. “It can be funny, specific, slightly uncomfortable or just a bit weird.”
Too Polarising is available now for RRP $80 through Pierogi Studio.
