Geoff Whitman’s love affair with photography started in early childhood when, by regularly visiting New York City and its many art museums and galleries, along with the vibrant street life of that city in the 1970’s and 80’s while accompanying his mother who is a visual artist. Armed with his mom’s AE-1 loaded with Kodak Tri X and Kodachrome, Geoff first started taking photographs of the world around him at around age 10 and a camera has never been far from his reach since then. As a high school student, Geoff met some legends of photography at a UNH series on art & photography, most notably Georgia O’ Keefe.
Geoff’s love of live music began around the same time when, at age 8, he was taken to a Kinks show at SUNY by two brothers who were supposed to be watching the young lad. Instead, it was an awakening that Geoff would never forget.Attending Northeastern University in Boston in the early 90’s, Geoff had the opportunity to watch the grunge movement explode in front of his eyes and the desire to sneak a lens into any show he could, at clubs like The Rat, Middle East, Bill’s Bar, Avalon, etc was irresistible. The crossroads of rock & roll and photography was one he couldn’t avoid and only the lure of a career in the wine and spirits business could provide a detour of sorts.Beginning as a “cellar rat” at Au Bon Climat under the tutelage of rockstar winemaking legend Jim Clendenen in 1994, Geoff started his career in the wine world. At Jim’s urging, Geoff lept into the wine sales track, beginning work with Southern Wine & Spirits as a Fine Wine Specialist in the on-premise accounts of Beverly Hills & Hollywood. This role would take him to the heights of Napa Valley and to the Robert Mondavi family where, over nearly twenty years, Geoff held various high level management positions. Along the way, Geoff joined a wine start-up and grew that brand to 1M cases, only to depart to pursue his lifelong passions of music and photography.In 2024, Geoff realized a dream come true when he accepted the gig as Pearl Jam’s official tour photographer.
