Romulo Yanes, who in his 26 years as the staff photographer helped define Gourmet magazine’s striking visual identity by capturing the natural beauty of food without relying solely on the embellishments of ornamental props or elaborate styling, died on June 16 at his home in Tampa, Fla. He was 62.
His husband, Robert Schaublin-Yanes, said the cause was peritoneal cancer.
Before the 1980s, when Mr. Yanes (pronounced YAH-ness) arrived at Gourmet, food photography in cookbooks and magazines was typified by a lifestyle sensibility that placed a gauzy focus on everything but the food itself. Styling could be theatrical, lavish props were heavily used, and the finished