Food-Fuelled PASSION

Melissa Delport is a powerhouse woman who truly embraced her career with open arms and trusted the process. We were so excited to catch up with her

- YASHNA BALWANTH

Tell us about your career journey thus far.

So I initially studied make-up artistry once I left school. I then went on to study photography and was adamant I would be in the fashion industry once I moved to Cape Town. I worked at a modelling agency, wanted to be a fashion photographer and I could do the make-up, so I thought it would be ideal for me. It was okay for a while, but my career didn't take off and move the way that I wanted it to. With a nudge from my partner, I ended up entering MasterChef South Africa Season 3 and made it to the boot-camp stage. While I didn't make it further, that felt like it changed my course.

After the show, a friend asked if I knew of any food photographers, and I thought of giving it a go myself. I showed these images to an old colleague of mine and her reaction was more than enough to make me start photographing food as my career instead. She asked me to build her a portfolio within a month and would represent me if I did. Needless to say, I worked my behind off to pull that together. It seemed that things started snowballing after that - my food blog The Truffle Journal began as well and my food career seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

With all this experience I was gathering, I decided to email a publisher and put together my first recipe book: WHOLE. I am such a big believer in synchronicity and listening to where the universe takes you, so although this has been a radical path, it wasn't really planned. I followed my nose and trusted that what unfolded for me was meant for me.

You speak about food with such passion. Have you always known that you wanted to work with food?