The old Orchard basement storage
Imagine replacing a full seasons worth of Apples, Cherries, Peaches, Plums and Pears, and restocking with a mad collection of various bass guitars. If you need help picturing that scene, this Bass Journey is the cure!
There’s something poetic about storing instruments in a space originally designed to preserve harvests. Both require careful climate control, both age with character, and both represent the fruits of someone’s labor. This abandoned fruit cellar beneath Kolorit Media’s photo studio in Denmark offered the perfect combination of rustic charm and practical advantages for a unique bass photography session.
The space itself tells a story of Danish agricultural history. These basement storage rooms were once essential infrastructure for local orchards throughout Funen – Denmark’s “Garden Island” – allowing farmers to keep their apple, pear, and stone fruit harvests fresh through winter months. The thick walls, natural temperature regulation, and dim lighting that once preserved fruit now create an atmospheric setting that vintage instruments seem to belong in.
The irony isn’t lost on me: instruments made from aged wood, photographed in a space designed to age fruit. Many of these basses feature bodies crafted from woods that were themselves carefully dried and stored before being shaped into instruments. The parallel between agricultural patience and lutherie craftsmanship runs deeper than it first appears.
Fun Fact
The old orchard basement storage is actually located below the photo studio of Kolorit Media.
It’s abandoned and no longer in use as it was created for. But it definitely still serves a purpose, along with preserving old and important stories about the local area.
You will find Kolorit Media here: Bramstrup 20, 5792 Årslev (Denmark)
Why photograph basses in unusual locations?
Every bass has a context. We’re used to seeing them on stages, in studios, or against clean white backgrounds in product photos. But vintage instruments especially carry stories that deserve more interesting settings. This collection of basses – spanning different eras, builders, and design philosophies – deserved a backdrop with its own history.
The basement’s weathered textures contrast beautifully with the glossy finishes of some basses while complementing the natural wear on others. The low, directional light filtering through small windows creates the kind of dramatic shadows and highlights that reveal the three-dimensional qualities of each instrument’s construction.
There’s also something refreshingly honest about photographing basses in a working space – or in this case, a formerly working space – rather than a sterile environment. These are tools for making music, crafted from materials harvested from the earth. Photographing them in a place that once stored earth’s literal fruits feels appropriate.
The “cool and dry place” storage instruction you find on everything from film to food? It applies to vintage instruments too. This cellar’s natural climate regulation made it ideal for both purposes.
No basses where harmed or injured during this Bass Journey If you want to explore the basses on this journey, feel free to take a trip to The Bass Vault.