Some jobs feel like work. Others feel like being handed a camera and told to spend the day people-watching with a cold drink in your hand. Last weekend was definitely the second kind. I spent the day at Eken Vintage Market in Stockholm photographing Gullis Drinks while Eken Café served their drinks to visitors wandering through the market. The sun was shining, the market was buzzing, and everywhere I looked there were little moments unfolding that felt worth capturing. As a food and beverage photographer, these are the assignments I love most, because they are not perfectly controlled, I love them because they are unpredictable.
One of the things I find most interesting about food and beverage brands is how much of their story exists outside of the product itself. A beautifully photographed bottle can tell you a lot, you can see the label, the design, the colour, the branding. But what it can't always show is what happens when that product becomes part of someone's day. How people hold it, who they share it with, whether it becomes part of a conversation, a moment of rest, or an afternoon spent with friends. That's the part I was interested in whilst documenting the Gullis at the Eken Vintage Market. Not just Gullis as a drink. Gullis as an experience. If you have ever visited a vintage market, you'll know they are full of people who aren't in a hurry, people stop to look, they chat, they discover things they didn't know they needed. The atmosphere is relaxed and curious, which makes it a wonderful environment for lifestyle event photography. Throughout the day, visitors drifted between vintage stalls, stopped for Gullis, found sunny spots to sit, and wandered through the market carrying treasures under their arms and everywhere I looked there were opportunities to capture genuine moments. The kind that simply can't be staged.
Rather than standing in one place and waiting for moments to happen, I decided to become part of the experience. Armed with bottles of Gullis, I wandered through the market offering people a drink in exchange for a photograph. It sounds slightly strange when I write it down, but it worked, really well. People were curious. Some had already heard of Gullis and were excited to try it. Others were discovering the brand for the first time. Almost everyone smiled, most people laughed and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The drink became an instant conversation starter, Instead of approaching people with a camera, I was approaching them with something refreshing to try and the photographs became a natural extension of that interaction.
This is one of the reasons event photography can be such a powerful investment for food and beverage brands. Events create opportunities to document people engaging with products in a real environment. They show how a brand exists in the world beyond product launches, packaging designs, and advertising campaigns. The resulting images can be used across websites, social media, press releases, newsletters, future marketing campaigns, and brand storytelling. But perhaps more importantly, it helps answer a question every potential customer has, "What would this be like if I tried it?" Good event photography helps people imagine themselves there.
Looking for a Food and Beverage Event Photographer in Sweden?
If you are a food, beverage, hospitality, or lifestyle brand looking for event photography in Stockholm or across Sweden, I'd love to hear about what you're planning.
