Two people. One floor of an old mill.
Halden Studio was founded in 2019 by a photographer and a director who kept getting booked for the same jobs. Now they take them together.
Isak Halden
Photographer · co-founderTrained in Gothenburg, moved to Manchester for a six-month contract in 2014 and never left. Shoots food, buildings and people with the same patience. Would rather lose a job than add a fake shadow.
Renny Okoye
Director · co-founderTen years cutting documentary before moving behind the camera. Directs everything the studio films and grades most of it too. Believes the best interview technique is being quiet slightly too long.
The studio at Baltic Works
Twelve hundred square feet on the second floor of a converted mill in Ancoats: blackout on one side, a wall of north light on the other, a kitchen that gets used for real food styling and a colour-accurate grading corner.
Clients are welcome on every shoot day. There is good coffee and one rule: nobody says "can we get one more, just safe" after the shot is there.
Selected clients
- Meridian
- Arla Knitwear
- Stanhope Estates
- Fjell
- Lyra Holt
- Calder & Byrne
- The Whitworth
- Hollis Bakehouse
- Northern Rail Journal
- Fold Architecture
- Ember & Vine
- Peveril Hotels
What we believe about kit
Enough, not everything
Two camera systems, a case of primes, one tungsten head and a van. Anything else gets hired for the job that needs it, and only that job.
Available light first
If the room has good light, we use the room. Most of the work on this site was made with one source or none at all.
Finish in-house
Retouch and grade happen on our own screens, by the people who stood behind the camera. Nothing is sent away to be made worse.