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Silverbean Office Interiors Photography
Last Autumn just before Lockdown No3, I completed an Interiors Photography shoot for affiliate marketing agency, Silverbean, PR agency, North and paid marketing agency, Ortus an impressive global marketing collective in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Silverbean team had recently moved into a beautiful new office space in Brinkburn Street, Byker close to the quayside and city centre. It was a really windy day with blue grey patchy skies, crunchy brown leaves and that dreamy warm pink/orange light that September brings.
The building is steeped in local history with traditional typefaces and exposed iron girders marked with ‘Iron Works Ltd’ proudly affirming its North East industrial location. The bold metal structures, exposed imperfect brickwork and polished wood floors are a stunning office setting together with plants bringing colour, softening sharp corners and adding warmth to the interior space.
Hannah Strong, Head of Marketing at Silverbean and sister agency AGY47 invited me for a meeting after a LinkedIn recommendation pointed her my way. We discussed the company objectives in line with brand photography then had an enjoyable scout about the building assessing light and points of interest whilst I offered some creative input.
I was wowed by the light, the colours and textures together with the simplistic and spacious interior design of the building. The communal areas were warm and inviting suggesting a friendly, fun and unified team despite many staff off site temporarily working from home. My post visit proposal to the team offered a dual approach tailored for each brand and sample imagery to demonstrate my portrait, interiors and documentary photography style.
The Silverbean space was an absolute Newcastle Photography treat, the type that makes you proud of North East industry, past and present. 166 Brinkburn Street is simply bursting with character blending its historic and modern charm perfectly with Scandi furniture, giant palms and a burgundy pool table to boot! There was even Reggie, a pupppy King Charles Spaniel happy to model, adding yet more warmth and playfulness to these Office Interior Design Photos.
Once used for traditional industrial manufacturing, this creative commercial workspace now generating marketing ideas and online technology is the perfect environment for my own creative Commercial Photography. Where old and new meet in unison and the people within it absolutely do…
Small Plates at Arlo Jesmond
Newcastle Bar Interiors and Food Photography
Small Plates and Big Drinks!
This summer Arlo of Jesmond launched it’s yummy new small plate menu served from 6pm along with a diverse range of delicious cocktails, artisan gins and local craft ales to accompany a brand new refurbishment.
Newcastle people who are Arlo regulars are likely to know the dynamic, warm and truly lovely owners, Lucus and Susan. I met the family around 7 or 8 years ago capturing family portraits of their children at a pop up studio of mine in Gosforth.
We have stayed in touch ever since and a short while after their family shoot they launched Arlo on Brentwood Avenue, West Jesmond. It’s been a fantastic success as a perfect stop off for school running parents in need of coffee, students after a brunch to cure the mother of hangovers and oldies like me loving all things easy and local, live music and great food.
I am always flattered when they bring me on board for their food and drink photography, asking me to capture new menus, staff portraits, themed evening events and interior design for their website and marketing as they expand and grow. I love feeling part of their dynamic team.
A highlight for me was scoffing cake and coffee one morning and spotting my interior photos on posters in their windows. This was illustration photography of Lucus’ story telling nicknacks that adorn Arlo’s walls and shelves. So this summer when they announced their refurb and the wonderful new bar installation I was thrilled to be there at the launch party.
The new look and feel is consistent with their well established brand being a cosy, friendly and inviting atmosphere. Materials throughout are natural and inviting much like the food. The rich conker coloured leather upholstery, textured solid wood bar and the soft glowing lights on the metalwork are the perfect Autumnal setting for a sophisticated tasty small plate.
The food is so fresh it’s absolutely the energy of the place with breakfast, daytime and then an evening menu of small plates designed to eat at the bar with a colourful tipple alongside. I photographed a selection which I sampled afterwards (obviously) so I can vouch they taste as great as they look.
The Japanese Salmon Gravlax is delicate and generous slices of sake wasabi cured salmon with wasabi mayo, torarashi spice and pickled cucumber to make your mouth zing and tingle.
JAPANESE SALMON GRAVLAX
sake wasabi cured salmon + wasabi mayo + torarashi spice + pickled cucumber
The Mini Poke Bowl, its roots in native Hawaiian cuisine boasts a beautifully seared piece of tuna sitting on an interesting and diverse eastern base of matcha rice, edamame, avocado, wakame, tofu and a pink grapefruit dressing to boot.
MINI POKE BOWL
seared tuna + matcha rice + edamame + avocado + pickled cucumber + wakame + tofu + pink grapefruit dressing
And for the veggies there is the most yumtastic Buratta. This is a fresh Italian cow or buffalo milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella, while the inside contains stracciatella and cream, giving it a gorgeous melt in the mouth, soft texture. I’d mistakenly thought it a poached egg, but it’s way more sophisticated than that.
BURATTA
Italian burrata + tomato salad + fennel seed + peach dressing + toasted sourdough
The full menu can be found on their website here
Of course the food is great but so are the drinks, equally as colourful as the food and well worth sampling. The cocktail menu is creative and interesting and the gins on offer include two North East made, poetic Licence Picnic Gin from Sunderland and Hepple Gin from Northumberland.
The bar staff are skilled and will whip you up cocktail with a smile, the three potions I photographed were Elderflower Spritz, Arlo Summer Breeze and Espresso Martini. There are also great ales with Camden Hells, Sierra Nevada and lovely local Tyneside Blonde.
How fantastic to see local food made with local ingredients served with locally brewed specialist drinks and all shot by a local photographer of course! Arlo is a wonderful place to eat in Newcastle bringing a buzzing food and drink community together making many of us feel so proud to live and work here. A big bravo to the North East and well done to Arlo!
Arlo Summer Breeze (Strawberry, Elderflower, Rhubarb & ginger gin)
Elderflower Spritz (Elderfower, Prosecco, Soda)
Espresso Martini (Vodka, Kahlua, Espresso)
Träkol at By The River Brew Co
Träkol Food Photography
for Event Magazine Mail on Sunday
September 2018
If you are lucky enough to live in or near Newcastle and Gateshead you’ll have seen how exciting places to eat and drink are popping up in lots of new spots. As a bar, restaurant and food & drink photographer there’s suddenly lots of fresh opportunity to take interesting shots at attractive local venues. This year has been particularly lively with the opening of Route on The Side, Brinkburn Brewery in the Ouseburn and By the River Brew Co on Gateshead Quay to name but a fab few. I have been buzzing this summer as I’m a big foodie nerd outside of shooting hours and having all this choice and exceptional quality is just brilliant!
It’s not just the food that is amazeballs (Hawkers market at By the River Brew Co offers international street food, Träkol, Route and Brinkburn Brewery sophisticated small plates) it’s the venue locations that make them really exhilarating. Most are set within historic and very photogenic industrial Newcastle including terraced spaces within the Tudor architecture of the Side, a bar with an entrance to the underground Victoria Tunnel and river side under the 7000 tonnes of sturdy Tyne Bridge steel. So when the Mail on Sunday got in touch to ask me to take photos of Träkol restaurant I was pretty enthusiastic!
The brief from the Mail picture desk was to capture Träkol’s shipping container exterior sat between the beautiful bridges together with the interior design and restaurant’s open fire cooking. I was given a list of dishes Tom Parker Bowles had sampled the previous week to be reviewed in the Sunday supplement Event magazine on Sunday 23rd September. Träkol’s dishes of Surf Clams, Octopus Ceviche, Osado Cooked Lamb, Pig Tails and the Half Pig Head feast were prepared expertly and presented beautifully by the chef for me to photograph. The dishes were such a beautiful mixture of textures, colours and garnish that a week after I booked to go experience it for myself. I was blown away by the flavours, atmosphere, service and the high quality of the food. I really recommend a visit starting with an ale by the Tyne, then after a night cap in Hawkers Market. The location and views are exhilarating! Hurrah for these canny new businesses in the North East, giving us amazing new experiences and something to feel proud, show off and shout loudly about!
Newcastle’s City Tavern up for Heineken Award
This month Heineken awards it’s very best pubs nationally for their best achievements. The City Tavern in Newcastle city centre has been entered for Best Newcomer. Lessee Dave King who has been in the bar and leisure trade for many years had taken retirement but returned to the business to start up Barhound to refurbish and re-open what once was LYH (legendary Yorkshire Heroes).
The ales are varied and they have their own house ale brewed by Caledonian in Edinburgh. The food offering is fantastic with a high ranking certificate from food hygiene standards and the decor is spectacular with views up and down the vault like centre of the building. If you are Newcastle based and doing some Christmas shopping over the next few weeks it’s a perfect quiet stop away from the bustle of shoppers and long shop queues!
