Edible landscapes by Carl Warner

“As a photographer, I find there is nothing more rewarding than going into my studio at the start of the day with an empty canvas and leaving at the end of the day with something wonderful to hang on the wall.”

There are people whom we call "golden-handed". And whatever they touch turns into a work of art. 

Photographer Carl Warner is one of those rare talents. He has the ability to turn absolutely anything into a breathtaking landscape.

Warner grew up an only child and spent a lot of time alone in his room. “I’d draw a lot, make things out of Legos. I had Roger Dean posters on my wall and Dali pictures. That’s how I worked my imagination, like a bodybuilder would train. I worked my imagination like a muscle, and that enabled me to work outside the box.”

He enrolled in art college to become an illustrator, but soon realized that photography was a much faster way to express himself.

For years, Warner worked as a commercial photographer. One day, he came across some portobello mushrooms at a food market. To him, they looked like strange trees from an alien world.

He decides to bring them to his studio along with some rice and beans, and that’s how his very first “foodscape” was born. Ten years pass before the world starts talking about his work, but when it does, the images instantly go viral, becoming a sensation in international media.

From that point on, Warner became a sought-after guest on talk shows and news programs. His audience, once mainly European, quickly expanded worldwide. He signed a publishing deal, became a judge on food shows, received multiple offers to create a food-themed amusement park, and the list keeps growing.

“I have a passion for creating and making images from things that most people would not take a second look at. I love finding pictures and beauty in the mundane and the banal. In creating landscapes from the contents of my fridge or building cities from sea shells or car parts, I am more of a photographic illustrator who creates something from nothing, transforming one thing into another by simply composing and lighting”, Warner explains.  

The key to Carl Warner’s success lies in his imaginative vision. Thanks to this boundless creativity, he brings to life incredible compositions: a salmon sea lapping at shores made of potatoes and rye bread, a graceful broccoli stem surfing leafy waves balanced on a silver butter knife, miniature vegetables acting as fans in a stadium made of crackers, cheering on a make-believe football match.

Warner’s art is a mesmerizing reminder that even everyday items and humble ingredients can be transformed into true masterpieces. His ability to see the extraordinary in the ordinary invites us to look at the world with fresh eyes and to find beauty in every detail. Through his one-of-a-kind style and limitless imagination, Carl Warner has redefined the boundaries of food photography and gifted us a bit of visual magic – the kind you want to stare at again and again. His work continues to inspire and proves that art is everywhere – all you have to do is notice.