A day of just making

A while ago I moved from the busy streets of Berlin to the green fields of North Rhine-Westphalia. It’s beautiful here, but I’m still getting used to it. Open meadows are new to me as a location. I constantly feel like I want to do something with them, but I’m not quite sure what yet. So when the sun finally came back out one day, I decided to start with something familiar. A summer table setting. Nothing too complicated, nothing too heavy, just playing with what I already had.

A day without pressure. That was the plan.

I know myself: starting is the hardest part. I’d rather put it off, but I also know that once I’m going, it flows, and I enjoy it. So I wrote down a rough idea, stopped by the shop on the day for some fresh produce, gathered my props, and started setting up in the late afternoon - deliberately, because of how the light feels more beautiful in the evening.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to feel like something. Not a ready-made dinner table, but a mood. And building that mood is what I love most about this kind of projects. It feels like a meditation. In my own world, bringing my vision to life with my hands.

You start to observe rather than think too deeply. Does this object belong here? What happens when I add the food? Which colours strengthen each other? What gives the whole thing more atmosphere? One decision leads to the next, and before you know it, you’re completely absorbed. It’s almost like a real-life makeover game. Do you remember those from the early days of the internet?

And when everything is in place, and it feels right, you make the images. Does it match what I had in mind? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and that’s okay. It’s a process. This time I discovered that less on the table actually worked better, letting the objects breathe and come into their own. I made a deliberate choice for an editorial feel in the food styling. The radicchio with the colour of lime, one strawberry, and one radish in the middle of the plate - small details that make the difference. You slowly add things, take things away, try different angles, different light.

And then something like this comes out of it:

This whole process sparked an idea. I love working with small, beautiful brands, but sometimes budgets can be a challenge. A well thought-out lifestyle product photography shoot takes time, and that's often reflected in the price, which can be out of reach for smaller brands. So what about a low-key collaborative brand shoot for smaller brands that want to show their products in a professional setting, without the cost of a full solo production? A shoot where the quality stays high, and the investment stays manageable.

So I'm looking for beautiful brands that would like to collaborate. If you work with furniture, tableware, accessories, food or drink, or fabrics, and you feel your product belongs in this world, I would love to get in touch.

Interested, or know someone who might be? Drop me an email at hello@lennekebenders.com or for more information visit the A Collaborative Brand page here.

Have a lovely sunny day,
Len

Images taken in Selfkant, Germany