Film8 Recorded the Official Launch Party for Children’s Book Stripey Bear — Where Are You From?

On September 12, 2026, Soho House Stockholm hosted the official launch party for Stripey Bear — Where Are You From?, a new children’s book written by Faria Ferdous Ellesson and illustrated by Jesper Ferdous Ellesson.

Through the adventures of its distinctive striped bear, Stripey Bear — Where Are You From? explores ideas of identity, heritage, home and belonging. 

For this launch, Film8 was responsible for the event photography and videography, documenting not only the formal programme but also the interactions between children, families and guests.

Production team

• Producer: Zhanyi Xing

• Photographer: Shawn Ho

• Videographer: Vincent Niemann

• Video Editor: Zhanyi Xing

Soho House Stockholm occupies a former Methodist church dating from 1894. Its original architectural elements include high vaulted ceilings, restored stained-glass windows and a historic organ overlooking the main Church Floor.

That architecture became more than a backdrop for the Stripey Bear launch. The contrast between the building's Gothic-inspired interior and the playful visual identity of the children's book creates an interesting photographic tension: old and new, heritage and childhood, permanence and discovery. The event photographs make particularly effective use of this contrast.

The use of foreground elements and shallow depth of field is particularly effective throughout the series. Plants, furniture and audience members are sometimes deliberately allowed to fall out of focus in the foreground, creating several layers within the frame. This technique gives the photographs a cinematic quality and places the viewer inside the event rather than making them feel like a distant observer. The contrast between the warm, softly lit surroundings and the vivid blue Stripey Bear screen also creates a consistent visual identity across the collection.

The photography also places strong emphasis on candid interaction rather than heavily staged portraits. Images of children gathered on sofas, families drawing together around a table, audience members responding to the discussion, and speakers sharing moments of laughter give the event a natural and human quality. In particular, the photographs of children use the surrounding furniture and activity as natural framing devices, creating depth while keeping their interactions at the centre of the composition.

The overhead photographs offer another perspective on the event. Instead of focusing primarily on faces, the elevated viewpoint reveals how people interact with the books, drawings, tables and one another. This transforms an ordinary activity into a more editorial, lifestyle-oriented image and visually reinforces one of the central ideas behind Stripey Bear: belonging is experienced through relationships, participation and shared moments.

The speaker portraits demonstrate a similar approach to contextual storytelling. Rather than isolating the speaker against a neutral background, the photographer often places the person alongside the Stripey Bear screen and the surrounding architecture. This creates a visual connection between the author, the book and the audience, allowing the photograph to communicate the purpose of the event as well as the identity of the speaker.

Across the full collection, Film8 combines wide architectural compositions, medium interaction shots, intimate candid moments, overhead perspectives and environmental portraits. This variation gives the final gallery a strong narrative rhythm. The images move naturally from the venue and its atmosphere to the children and families, then to the speakers, audience reactions and finally the people behind the event.

From a photographic perspective, the challenge was to capture both the scale of the occasion and the intimacy of individual moments. The Film8 images achieve that through a combination of environmental composition, candid observation, architectural framing, shallow depth of field, elevated perspectives and carefully timed gestures.

Most importantly, the photography understands that the story of a children's book launch is found in the child holding a toy, the parent watching, the audience responding, the speaker laughing, and the conversations taking place around the room.

And perhaps that is the most appropriate visual interpretation of Stripey Bear itself: a story about finding where you belong, documented through the people who came together to celebrate it.