This project was built around a simple idea I always come back to — friends hanging out and enjoying food together. Sydney Buck is a Brooklyn-based private chef and founder of BuckWild Kitchen, and the shoot grew out of the kind of gatherings she creates: warm, generous, and full of character. She made all of the food herself, we photographed her with real friends, and everyone wore their own clothes and brought pieces of themselves into the scene, down to things like the Jäger on the table.

The goal was to keep everything feeling easy, social, and true to the way these moments actually unfold. A lot of the work was simply paying attention — letting the energy between people, the food, and the space carry the frame.