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If there’s one issue about which we, the chill citizens of Instagram summer 2k16, are of one mind, it is this: An ice cream cone that hasn’t been photographed in a grasping hand in front of a wall is no ice cream cone at all. It’s a masterpiece of composition, really, from the color-and-texture opportunities of mixing and matching scoops and backdrops, to the Rockwellian invitation of the outstretched arm, personal but not invasively so: This could be you, the ice-cream-cone-in-front-of-a-wall photo says to its viewer. It could be your arm. Your cool tattoos. Your sick gel mani. Live with me here, in an endless summer. Come on in, take a lick.
This photo style isn’t new, of course, but somehow this seems to have been the summer that it hit critical mass. It’s nearly impossible to flick through Instagram without running into some variation on the theme — sometimes they’re cups instead of cones, sometimes it’s an out-of-focus sunset instead of a wall, sometimes it’s a popsicle! — but to honor the close of ice cream season (which, yes, in our hearts is never-ending, but according to the man it’s about to be Labor Day weekend and we need to all start pulling ourselves together and thinking about braises and root vegetables), here’s a roundup of some exemplars of summer’s coolest food photo.
Additional reporting by Hillary Dixler, Meghan McCarron, Daniela Galarza, Patty Diez, and Stefanie Tuder
