Do you have a favourite creative you follow? A person or company where everything they share is simply breathtaking? Culinary-wise, mine is Our Food Stories. And judging by their almost 1 million followers on instagram, I'm not alone! I was crazily excited to catch up with Nora and Laura, the creative duo behind the brand to find out more about their recipes and work, how to achieve that 'moody' visual aesthetic, Design Tales and their beautiful abodes.
What a pleasure to feature you on MSH. We'd love to hear a little more about who you are and what you do?
We work as a photographer and food stylist. Laura studied photography and Nora actually fashion design. We have work together on our brand 'Our Food Stories' for almost 5 years and love it! Since we have a huge passion for design we decided to start an interior-Instagram Account as well. When we are not in our studio in Berlin, we love to photograph productions in our second home in the countryside, close to Berlin.
I love what you guys are doing creatively with Our Food Stories. Where did your passion for food / cooking come from?
We have both always loved good food! But when we met, it was really difficult to go out for dinner together, as Laura has so many food intolerances. So we started cooking together instead and had so much fun developing new recipes. Just before Laura finished her studies, we decided to share our recipes and pictures on a blog and we've never looked back.
What inspires your recipes / shoots?
Ingredients-wise we often get inspired by the changing seasons. And from the photographic point of view we love to roam in the countryside to find hidden corners at a lake or in the woods and these spots and memories always inspire us for dreamy photo shootings.
You have a very distinct photographic style when it comes to food photography - how did this develop?
Thank you!! It just came naturally. When we started photographing food, our style was actually quite bright and clean, as we photographed only in our kitchen at home in Berlin. Quite soon we needed more space though and had the possibility to use Laura's fathers house in the countryside for a while as a studio, as he didn't used it during that time that much. There the light was more moody, we had plenty of old rustic tables and always found some interesting wooden boards in the garden. So our style changed of course!
Do you have any advice to anyone looking to recreate the same dark, atmospheric look in their own photography?
We are huge fans of natural light photography. So if you want to create this moody look, we would suggest shooting in a room with a small window and without direct sunlight. You can also use a black background, but you don't even need that, if you just watch the light and get a feeling for it, when it's best and at which time it helps you to create the effect that you want.
Do you each have your own skill set, if so how do you tend to divide tasks?
We always develop the recipes together. But Nora always cooks, I'm cleaning in between :) and then we do the styling together and I shoot the pictures. But the photo shooting process is always a moment where we work together.
You divide your time between two (beautiful!) homes, can you tell us more about them?
Thanks a lot! We have a flat in Berlin which is close to our studio. Our countryside space, is a little flat in the house of friends, which we completely renovated. It's so wonderful to live in a house with them, we're very grateful for this! Together we share a wonderful garden, which is our all time favorite photo shooting spot during summer.
What a pleasure to feature you on MSH. We'd love to hear a little more about who you are and what you do?
We work as a photographer and food stylist. Laura studied photography and Nora actually fashion design. We have work together on our brand 'Our Food Stories' for almost 5 years and love it! Since we have a huge passion for design we decided to start an interior-Instagram Account as well. When we are not in our studio in Berlin, we love to photograph productions in our second home in the countryside, close to Berlin.
I love what you guys are doing creatively with Our Food Stories. Where did your passion for food / cooking come from?
We have both always loved good food! But when we met, it was really difficult to go out for dinner together, as Laura has so many food intolerances. So we started cooking together instead and had so much fun developing new recipes. Just before Laura finished her studies, we decided to share our recipes and pictures on a blog and we've never looked back.
What inspires your recipes / shoots?
Ingredients-wise we often get inspired by the changing seasons. And from the photographic point of view we love to roam in the countryside to find hidden corners at a lake or in the woods and these spots and memories always inspire us for dreamy photo shootings.
You have a very distinct photographic style when it comes to food photography - how did this develop?
Thank you!! It just came naturally. When we started photographing food, our style was actually quite bright and clean, as we photographed only in our kitchen at home in Berlin. Quite soon we needed more space though and had the possibility to use Laura's fathers house in the countryside for a while as a studio, as he didn't used it during that time that much. There the light was more moody, we had plenty of old rustic tables and always found some interesting wooden boards in the garden. So our style changed of course!
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| This yummy looking gluten-free pumpkin seed berry cake features in their book Dialogues. |
Do you have any advice to anyone looking to recreate the same dark, atmospheric look in their own photography?
We are huge fans of natural light photography. So if you want to create this moody look, we would suggest shooting in a room with a small window and without direct sunlight. You can also use a black background, but you don't even need that, if you just watch the light and get a feeling for it, when it's best and at which time it helps you to create the effect that you want.
Do you each have your own skill set, if so how do you tend to divide tasks?
We always develop the recipes together. But Nora always cooks, I'm cleaning in between :) and then we do the styling together and I shoot the pictures. But the photo shooting process is always a moment where we work together.
 |
| Seasonal recipes like this glutenfree pear cake can be found over on the Our Food Stories blog. |
Thanks a lot! We have a flat in Berlin which is close to our studio. Our countryside space, is a little flat in the house of friends, which we completely renovated. It's so wonderful to live in a house with them, we're very grateful for this! Together we share a wonderful garden, which is our all time favorite photo shooting spot during summer.
Laura & Nora's Berlin apartment is near to their fabulous studio where a lot of the the culinary /photographic magic happens. Because of the creative chaos that often comes with photo shoots (although looking at the pictures, that's hard to imagine!) the pair like to keep their home pared-back and calm. Enjoy the tour!
"We love the mix between old and new things! Our home in Berlin is more modern, with new danish design interiors."
GET THE LOOK
1. FRAMA shelf library / 2. GUBI Grand Piano sofa / 3. Linen bedding from By Mölle / 4. FRAMA Sintra table / 5. FRAMA writing desk / 6. 9,5 chair
Laura & Nora completely renovated their two room flat in the countryside just outside Berlin from scratch. It's part of a larger house owned by friends and offers a completely different creative setting for their work. Let's take a peek inside...
"Our home in the countryside is more rustic, but also with a modern influence."
The pair recently renovated their kitchen in the country and opted for the black METOD-LAXARBY kitchen from IKEA. There's a great write-up about it and before and after pictures here.
Laura and Nora's fluffy friends Collin & Carry often make an appearance on Our Food Stories and Design Tales. They're super cute (and looking very mischevous in this picture, don't you think?!
"The way we choose the style of the interior comes quite naturally and is also kind of indirectly dominated (in a good way) by the space itself, its aura and its architectural character."
"We try to create a calm and relaxing atmosphere at home and this is what we love most! We have so much chaos during photo shootings, that we value a calm yet cozy home a lot!"
GET THE LOOK:
1. FRAMA shelf library desk / 2. Taccia table lamp / 3. Aesop soap / 4. By Mölle linen bedding
/ 5. &Tradition Fly sofa / 6. Industrial pendant lamp / 7. Aure print / 8. Vintage chopping boards
9. Tea towel / 10. Industrial scissor lamp /11. Silke Bonde 'dew' art print / 12. Saxe chair By Lassen
13. Marshall speakers
If you loved their homes as much as I do, and don't already follow their blog Our Food Stories and instagram feeds @ourfoodstories and @designtales - they're a must!! Who knows, you might even feel inspired to whip up a plum pie this evening (although I can't imagine mine looking quite like theirs!). You might also be excited to hear they have a book out too:
"Our book 'Dialogues' is a collaboration with Frama Cph. We love their work and have a lot of their beautiful furniture in our home. To work on a book together was such a great experience! The book is a mix of interior/design content and recipes and we hope, that it will be inspiring for others!"
Dialogues is available here.
Thank you so much for sharing your trade secrets and beautiful abodes with us Nora and Laura!
Thank you so much for sharing your trade secrets and beautiful abodes with us Nora and Laura!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!
Niki
Niki
PS I can't wait to get out in the knee-deep snow (such a kid!).
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ©OUR FOOD STORIES.
