"Only five percent say no. Half of those people say it’s because they have no makeup on or it’s a bad hair day. I mean, I think they look beautiful, but no picture. Maybe they come back another day...,” Jihed Chemini laughs over an afternoon dessert of salted caramel cake at Pod restaurant. Most students know Jihed as the debonair, aviator–wearing owner of Chez Yasmine food truck at 37th and Spruce streets—many would call him a campus celebrity. Jihed’s growing popularity in the last year can be attributed to something more than his delicious French–Tunisian–Swedish cuisine: a booming social media presence. So whether you have or have not tried the tartine and couscous, you probably know someone who was photographed grabbing lunch on the way to Van Pelt.
Akin to Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York, Jihed has transformed his Facebook page into a platform to share his daily experiences with people in the Penn community. From his most loyal customers whose names are displayed on the menu, to first–timers looking for something beyond the typical gyro—Jihed proudly shares his portraits with detailed captions or shoutouts in his morning statuses. Even in the bitter winter months, his subjects are smiling—not a fake smile for the picture, but a squinty–eyed grin likely caught mid–laugh after one of Jihed’s jokes.
“The 95% of people who say yes—they love it! Then they go home, they tag so their friends can see...but the tagging really allows me to connect a face and name to my customers.” The cover photo on his Facebook page shows some of his earliest loyal students, a group of seniors in the Huntsman program in the class of 2014. Jihed can point to each student and recount details about their life. “Her parents are Belgian, but they live in Tunisia. I will see them in six months when I visit. After he graduated, his younger brother came to Penn and started visiting the truck all the time in his place.” Jihed remembered the details of each student, which represents his philosophy behind capturing customers through his photographs.
“It’s not an exchange of food and money, then goodbye and next customer. That’s not what I do—it’s about making a connection with people, sharing an experience and getting to know each other.” The art behind Jihed’s photographs is his intention of creating a photo catalogue of transitory people with whom he had a meaningful interaction. Lunch is meant to be something to remember, for both the photographer and his subject.
