Film8’s Commercial Photography for Tenways in Stockholm and Copenhagen

Between May and September 2023, and again in June and August 2024, Film8 worked with electric bike brand Tenways on a series of commercial photography productions in Stockholm, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

The productions were built around a simple idea: show the bikes as part of everyday life rather than treating them purely as technical products. Across the four shoots, we photographed Tenways bikes in city streets, by the water, in parks and in coastal landscapes, working with a cast of models to create imagery that felt contemporary, natural and distinctly Northern European.

Shawn Ho from Film8 worked across the productions as both producer and photographer, handling the practical side of the shoots while also directing the visual approach and photographing the campaign.

Making Electric Bikes Feel Part of the City

One of the most important decisions in this project was the choice of locations. For a lifestyle-oriented e-bike brand, the city itself is part of the product story. Instead of relying heavily on studio setups or generic backgrounds, we used real environments that people might actually encounter while riding a bike.

In Stockholm, the photography moves between urban architecture, waterfronts and green spaces. Cobblestone streets and older buildings provide a distinctly Scandinavian city setting, while Stockholm's relationship with water gives the images a sense of openness.

Some of the wider photographs place the bikes against the city's waterfront, allowing the product to remain clearly visible while giving the viewer an immediate sense of place. In other shots, the camera moves closer, using architecture and paving as a quieter background so that attention stays on the bike and the rider.

This balance was important. The images needed to work as commercial photography, but they also needed to feel like photographs of people actually using these bikes.

From Architecture to Open Landscapes

The location selection also allowed us to show different sides of the Tenways product range. Several of the Stockholm images use historic architecture and cobblestone streets. The relatively clean lines of the bikes work particularly well against these textured surroundings. The contrast between old buildings and modern electric bikes gives the images a subtle sense of modern Scandinavian urban life without making the concept feel overly staged.

Other photographs move away from the city and into parks and wooded areas. Here, the visual language becomes softer. Natural green backgrounds and longer sightlines create a feeling of movement and leisure, which works particularly well for lifestyle imagery.

The coastal photographs take this idea further. Tall dune grass, open sky and the horizon create a much more expansive environment. The bikes become part of an outdoor lifestyle rather than simply a means of urban transportation.

That variety gave Tenways a broader library of images to work with. A single location style can quickly make a commercial campaign feel repetitive; moving between city, nature and coast gave the final set considerably more visual range.

Photographing the Bike Without Losing the Person

A recurring challenge in bicycle photography is finding the right relationship between product and lifestyle. If the camera gets too close, the photograph can start to look like a catalogue image. If the bike becomes too small in the frame, however, the commercial purpose is lost.

We approached this by working at several different distances.

Some images are very product-focused. A close-up of the Tenways frame, for example, puts the branding and finish of the bike front and centre. The shallow perspective and controlled composition isolate the frame from the background, making the image useful for product communication while still retaining the visual character of the wider campaign.

The lifestyle images take the opposite approach. The bike remains an important part of the composition, but the model, clothing, surroundings and natural body language become equally important.

This is particularly visible in the photographs of riders moving through parks or standing with their bikes in the city. Rather than asking the models to perform obvious advertising poses, we used more relaxed gestures and interactions. The result feels closer to fashion and editorial photography than traditional product advertising.

Casting Models for a Scandinavian Lifestyle Campaign

The casting was another important part of creating this visual identity. The models were deliberately varied in age, appearance and style, allowing the campaign to suggest that e-bikes are not aimed at one narrowly defined type of customer.

The styling also plays a significant role. Rather than putting everyone in technical cycling clothing, the models wear everyday fashion — coats, knitwear, trousers, dresses and casual outerwear. This makes the bikes feel integrated into ordinary urban life.

One of the stronger examples is the image of two women with their bikes in a residential Stockholm setting. The photograph feels like a moment between friends rather than a conventional advertising pose. Similarly, the images of the riders in the park focus on movement and interaction, suggesting the bike as part of a day out rather than simply a piece of equipment.

For Tenways, this approach makes sense visually: the product is designed to sit somewhere between mobility, technology and lifestyle, so the photography needs to communicate all three without becoming overly technical.

Stockholm and Copenhagen as the Backdrop

Although Stockholm and Copenhagen have their own distinct architectural and geographic identities, both cities offered a strong environment for Tenways' visual language.

Stockholm provided a combination of water, historic architecture, parks and urban streets, while Copenhagen and its surrounding areas brought another side of Scandinavian cycling culture, with a natural connection between bikes, city life and outdoor movement.

Across the productions, the locations were never treated simply as attractive backgrounds. They were selected because they helped communicate how the product could exist within a particular lifestyle.

Film8 — Commercial Photography in Sweden and Denmark

These Tenways productions are representative of how Film8 approaches commercial and lifestyle photography for international brands.

With Shawn Ho working as both producer and photographer, the productions combined creative direction with on-the-ground production management. This made it possible to keep the visual decisions closely connected to the practical realities of the shoot — from finding suitable locations and coordinating models to working efficiently with changing daylight and weather.

For brands looking to produce commercial photography in Stockholm, Copenhagen or elsewhere in Scandinavia, Film8 provides production support, photography and local knowledge under one roof.