Photographing Lalou Bistrot à Vin

A 1950s-inspired restaurant photography brief in Geelong


It started with a phone conversation with Jon, although we’d actually first met years earlier when Zach and I were working on a promotional video for Geelong.


We were talking about photography for Lalou Bistrot à Vin, the new French wine bistro on Little Malop Street in Geelong, and what the photographs could look and feel like.


Initially, we discussed creating something more structured. Lalou already had a beautiful set of photographs showcasing the finished interiors, created as part of the interior design project, so there was no need for me to simply recreate what had already been documented so well.


Instead, we had an opportunity to create something different — photographs of Lalou at this exact moment in time, as the restaurant opened its doors and came to life.


With a new restaurant entering that incredibly busy early period, we realised the friends and family soft launch presented the perfect opportunity.

The restaurant would already be full. The kitchen would be working. Wine would be poured, plates would be moving through the room and people would actually be experiencing Lalou.

It was the perfect setting for something candid.


When Jon and I met in person to talk through the direction further, the idea became even more interesting:

Black and white. 1950s inspired. Lots of grain. Strong contrast. Nothing too crisp or polished. Movement was welcome.


The photographs needed to feel as though they could have belonged to another time.


Creating the black-and-white photographs

I loved the direction immediately, but it made me think quite differently about how I would photograph the evening.

For the black-and-white images to work, I wanted strong highlights and deep shadows. I wasn’t looking for perfectly even restaurant lighting or technically pristine photographs. Grain, movement and a little imperfection were all part of what we were trying to create.

At the same time, this was a real soft launch in a working restaurant.

The waitstaff needed to move freely between tables. The chefs were working. Guests were eating, drinking and talking. I wanted to photograph those interactions without turning the evening into a photoshoot.

So I tucked a strobe into a corner, safely out of the way, and used the stronger directional light to create the contrast I needed.

Then I could watch.

A conversation across a table. A glass being filled. Someone laughing. A waiter passing through the frame. Hands reaching for food. Movement catching the light.

Not every photograph needed to be perfectly sharp.

That was rather the point.

Black and white photo of a smiling woman at a candlelit restaurant table as a waiter pours wine, with framed art on the wall.
Black and white photo of a hand holding a Lalou wine glass of white wine, with a woman blurred in the background of a dim restaurant.
Two diners toast with wine glasses across a table in a moody black and white bistro scene with a vintage poster and wall sconce.
Black-and-white photo of a smiling woman holding a wine glass at a cozy restaurant booth beneath a vintage poster and wall sconce.
Black and white photo of a dimly lit Lalou restaurant interior with a wooden host stand, flower vase, pendant lamp and a diner at a table.
Black and white photo of Lalou, a French bistrot à vin, with glowing hanging lantern, decorative plates in the window and a diner inside.
Black and white photo of diners inside Lalou, a cozy bistrot à vin, with a white curtain sign and glowing pendant lamps.
Black and white photo of diners toasting with wine glasses over a candlelit restaurant table as a smiling woman looks on.
Black and white photo of a chef in an apron working in a cozy restaurant kitchen with checkered floors and a vintage china cabinet.
Two chefs prepare food at a stainless steel counter in a black and white restaurant kitchen with a checkered tile floor and stacked plates.

Photographing the interiors of Lalou Bistrot à Vin

Before guests arrived, I also spent an hour photographing Lalou in colour, concentrating on the restaurant’s interiors and details.

And there is a lot to photograph.

The interiors were designed by Bloom Interior Design Australia, who worked closely with the owners and builder to develop the space. Their intention was to create something elegant, but also warm and intimate — a restaurant that felt as though it had always belonged on Little Malop Street.

That balance is probably what struck me most when I walked in.

Vintage green walls sit alongside dark timber furniture, patterned upholstered chairs and traditional bistro seating. There are soaring ceilings, warm lighting, café curtains beginning halfway up the windows, beautiful branded glassware and mismatched dinnerware.

And then there are the plates.


Warm bistro entrance at Lalou Bistrot à Vins with wood paneling, checkered tile floor, and glowing amber pendant lamps.
Elegant restaurant interior with checkered tile floor, white-clothed tables, patterned chairs, pendant lamps and a waiter in the background.
Cozy restaurant corner with dark green paneled walls, leather banquette, round wooden table and checkered floor beside large windows.
Elegant dark green restaurant corner with a round wooden table, leather banquette, vintage plates, calla lily art and checkered floor.
Cozy restaurant corner with green paneled walls, vintage posters, red sconces, a round wood table with brass lamp and a leather banquette.
Elegant restaurant interior with dark green paneled walls, white tablecloths, patterned chairs, checkered floor and warm pendant lamps.

A little nostalgia

The collection of mismatched patterned plates displayed across the walls immediately took me back to Europe, where I’m from.

My grandma had plates displayed in her kitchen in almost exactly the same way.

It was such a small detail, but walking into a brand-new restaurant in the middle of Geelong and finding something so familiar made me unexpectedly nostalgic.

That’s also what I like about the space as a whole.

It feels considered without feeling over-designed. Sophisticated without becoming formal. Cosy, but not cluttered.

Even the partially open kitchen contributes to the atmosphere. You can catch glimpses of the chefs working throughout service, so the making of the food becomes part of the dining room rather than something hidden behind a closed door.

Bloom’s design also retains elements of the existing building, including original brickwork and ceiling details, while introducing new custom lighting, fabrics, finishes, furniture and artwork.

The result doesn’t feel like a reproduction of an old French bistro.

It feels established.

Elegant restaurant interior with deep green paneled walls, vintage plates, an ornate gold mirror, and a white-clothed table with a lamp.
Ornate red and gold floral china plate with two forks and two knives on a white tablecloth beside a striped chair and folded napkin.

Food photography during service

And, of course, there was the food.

I photographed a small selection of dishes in colour as they came through during the soft launch.

These weren’t dishes stopped mid-service for a highly styled food photography setup. They were part of a working kitchen and a real evening, and I wanted the photographs to sit naturally alongside the interiors and the rest of the story.

Lalou comes from the team behind neighbouring Geelong Cellar Door and has been conceived as French wine bistro, with the wine offering given as much importance as the food. The menu brings together French classics and more contemporary bistro cooking.

Man in a brown shirt swirls a glass of white wine at a dark wooden table in a cozy restaurant with green walls and leather booths.
Green-rimmed plate of tomato carpaccio with burrata and herbs beside a Lalou wine glass on a polished wooden restaurant table.

Restaurant photography that feels like the restaurant

This is probably what I loved most about photographing Lalou.

The aim wasn’t simply to show what the restaurant looked like.

It was to create photographs that felt like they belonged to Lalou.

The colour photographs could show the incredible work that had gone into the interiors, the food and all those carefully considered details.

And then, once the restaurant filled with people, the black-and-white photographs could become something else entirely.

A little grainy. A little imperfect. Full of movement, conversation, food and wine — and hopefully difficult to immediately place in time.

They capture one particular evening in the life of the restaurant — something that could never be recreated in quite the same way again.

Exactly the sort of commercial photography project I love.


Restaurant, food & interior photography in Geelong

I photograph restaurants, hotels, accommodation, interiors and hospitality brands across Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula and beyond, creating considered image libraries for websites, social media, editorial and marketing.

If you’re opening a new venue, refreshing an established space or looking for photography that captures both the design and the experience of your business, I’d love to hear about it.