about will henry

I was raised in Los Angeles during the 60’s and 70’s and always felt trapped living in the city (which seemed to get exponentially larger every year).  As a young boy I longed for annual trips to the beach and mountains. Over the years my interest in landscape photography developed as a way to bring these beautiful places home with me, and to share them with others.  My first photography class was at Stanford University in the mid 1980’s, where I concurrently developed a passion for writing - and nearly failed all of my other classes (sorry Mom and Dad).  After graduating from Stanford my addiction to surfing and adventure only got worse, and is the main reason I am not a millionaire today (sorry, kids).  Fueled by my parallel passions, I happily lugged tons of equipment around the globe in search of waves, adreniline-fueled explorations, and the lure of exotic landscapes.

After a stint working in my family’s wine business (which landed me in West Australia for a period of time - nice!), I decided to waste more money at art school and ended up earning a Master’s Degree in Photography at San Francisco Art Institute in 1996.  I then pursued a career of commercial photography and journalism, writing and shooting photos for magazines such as Blue, The Surfer’s Path, Surfer, and Surfing, among others.  I also took my fine art portfolio out and whored myself out to art galleries, leading to solo shows in New York, Seattle, Portugal, and California.

In early 2001, I took a detour and formed the non-profit Save The Waves Coalition, an environmental org focused on protecting the surf zone. At Save The Waves I served as Executive Director for six years, helping to initiate many of its groundbreaking projects such as Surfonomics and World Surfing Reserves, and protecting numerous surf spots around the world.

Today, I live in the Monterey area and continue to photograph, although I spend more time making wine for Lumen, which is my current passion and profession.