“Eating meat is so satisfying,” photographer Brian Finke tells me with a certain understated passion, a smile spreading across his face.

 

We’re sitting on a couch at National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. just after the final review for his first ever National Geographic magazine storyfirst ever National Geographic magazine storyfirst ever National Geographic magazine story, which is about, that’s right, meat.

A lot of people find their way into the family of the beloved yellow border by trekking snow-capped mountains or wading through rivers in the rainforest. Finke took a subtler approach. He caught the attention of our photo editors by barbecuing in his backyard.

The native Texan moved from Houston to New York