As a very "amateur" photographer I cannot add any wonderful insight, but that is probably true for most of us. The issue for me is not whether there should be anything in addition to the pen, but what that something is. In this case I find the "addition" detracts but the right addition could complement. For example, if you had an interestingly shaped "chunk" of wood from which the pen was made. If the 2 were placed together in a pleasing way, it would work for me.
You are so right!
There have been a few photos of pens with a background that accentuates the pen in the photo. I remember one or two in particular in which a fountain pen is laying on or beside a piece of paper with short hand written script under it. The nicely shaped handwritten script seemed obviously to have come from the fountain pen.
That was one background that made me "want" that pen - even though I cannot write beautiful script as in that photo!
There have been a few others photos like that - I can't remember exactly but my mind seems to remember one in which some wood related to the pen's wood - was intriguing. Another was similar to the script one above, but the pen was on an old desk with an ink bottle next to it.
Those photo backgrounds should not be overly cluttered with too many things that distract or compete with the pen. ON the other hand, if one IS trying to use the pen as a
draw to a photo, or part of a photo, then that is another subject and OK.