Eric Wolfinger is a James Beard Award-winning photographer, film director, and creative partner to people and brands with a story to tell.

It’s never just about the food.

Behind even the simplest dish there’s a person, a place, and a bigger picture. There is always a why. My job is to help my clients communicate theirs.

My own story begins in San Francisco, where I worked as a line cook and bread baker. While baking at Tartine, my mentor Chad Robertson had the idea that his apprentice (with no formal photography training) might bring a visual perspective to his bread book that no other photographer could. My photographs in Tartine Bread earned a James Beard nomination and launched an unexpected career.

Since then I’ve photographed more than thirty cookbooks and hundreds of brand commissions. Though I no longer spend years on a single project (I finally won that Beard shooting pasta with Evan Funke for American Sfoglino, a shoot we somehow completed in seven days), I still do my best work when I’m fully immersed.

I shoot the way I cook: I'm inquisitive, instinctive, joyful, fast, a little messy at times, and relentless. When people tell me they recognize my work out in the world, it's not because of a certain look - it’s because of a certain feeling.

Thanks for visiting. Now let’s hear about you.