Erica von Trapp | food, beverage & prop stylist
Hi! I'm Erica: American-born, French-trained food, beverage, and prop stylist based in Portland, Oregon.
I can't imagine anyone who would get into any culinary career without loving food, so that's perhaps obvious to commence with. But, really, I love food. I love making it look good; I love making it taste good. (or, in this field, at least just making it look like it tastes good.)
Food hasn't always loved me however — I grew up *that* kid with several food allergies, some pretty hefty (think, 3-minutes left to live when I arrived at the hospital after eating a Brazil Nut), and some simply annoying. That drew me from a young age to read the ingredients labels on everything I consumed and to start thinking about food in a different way through improvisation and being hyper conscientious of ingredients. (I've found both concepts, improvisation and being super specific with ingredients choices, critical in creating successful images as a stylist. Thanks, allergies!)
Fast-foward some certain number of years and here I am, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris (Le Grand Diplôme in both advanced savory and pastry) with kitchen years done at the Michelin-starred Le Pur' Restaurant Place Vendôme Paris and James Beard award-winning restaurants in Portland. I got into the media side of food in 2014 when my food blog turned into a YouTube channel and then episodes hosted and developed for Tastemade with my show "Bubble Child". The combination of visual arts and culinary expertise made food styling a dream job, and I haven't turned back since.
After several years food styling in Los Angeles, I have been based in Portland since 2020, specializing in both still and motion images for large and independent brands.
As my work and client roster have expanded, I've found myself doing double or triple duty on shoots as food, prop, and/or beverage stylist simultaneously. I adore prop styling, turns out! And am comfortable and happy to work in either or all of these roles.
Some of the clients I've worked with include: UNFI, Bob's Red Mill, ACI (Safeway, Albertson's), Haagen-Dazs, Zupan's Markets, Papa Murphy's Pizza, Nestle, Steak-Umm, Target, Uber Eats, Jack in the Box, Coca Cola, Subway, Sandstrom, AAA/Westways, Amex, Idahoan Foods, HBO, Tillamook, Blaze Pizza, Airbnb, Don Francisco Coffee, Beaver Brand/Inglehoffer, FOX Studios, FXX, Cheerios, Saveur Magazine, Tastemade, and Humm Kombucha, to name a few.
Thanks for checking out my work and I hope to give your culinary needs whatever flavor you're looking for.
