Decorating with Portrait Photography
The happiest homes seem to be filled with meaningful personal treasures—hand-selected items carefully chosen while visiting another place or culture, hand-crafted pieces for display on the dresser or on the wall. All these treasures are what contributes to a feeling of belonging. It makes a house your home.
The art that we display in our homes is a tangible way of saying “This is who we are and this is what’s important to us.”
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Our photos, whether they are carefully posed studio portraits or images caught during a memory-in-the-making, are perhaps the greatest treasures of all. Therefore, they are worthy of our consideration about how and where is the best way to display them in our homes.
Janiece McCarthy, leading Albury/Wodonga portrait photographer, says that photography is not only about capturing our lives in digital form and storing the file on our hard-drives. “Actively taking part in creating beautiful portraiture is something that shouldn’t be put off. No one ever regrets taking part in one of my portrait experiences, but may regret not doing so in years to come.”
The printed image becomes more important as years go by (see blog post ‘The Digital Dark Age’). "Often mums and dads (but mainly mums) are the ones behind the camera (or smart phone) capturing the precious moments. Hiring a professional gives them the chance to jump in and be a part of that amazing memory with the people who are most important to them.”
Janiece points out that her photo shoots (with all the trimmings) are aimed at making the mums feel comfortable in front of the camera and creating results that they are delighted with.
In the Design Consultation, the clients’ needs are identified and a plan is created to meet their needs and expectations.
When designing wall art, instead of haphazardly displaying your photographs along with the clutter of life (or worse, leaving them forgotten on a disc in the desk drawer), Janiece works with you to plan and choose a method and a location to display them. This way your portrait photography can dress the interior of your home, matching your décor, rather than using store bought so-called ‘art’ which creates a bland environment and says nothing about it’s occupants.
Most of Janiece’s clients come to her with an idea already formed about what they hope to accomplish through the photo shoot but others take the opportunity of the Design Consultation to commence their portrait journey. She says, “Usually they have a specific idea about choosing an Heirloom Collection of boxed images, they may prefer an album designed specifically for them, but most will want wall art for their homes. Some wall art is displayed right in the living room while other, more intimate images, may take their place in a bedroom or private sitting room."
When the primary assignment is to provide a portrait to hang in a specific place in a client’s home, Janiece prefers to visit the home well before the photo shoot. She will evaluate the space, the availability of natural and artificial lighting, and how the wall art may be illuminated. The colour scheme and style of the room, whether formal or informal etc. will be taken into account when designing the photo shoot.
Janiece also offers an installation service so that you can be sure that your wall art is displayed perfectly in your home ie the correct height in relation to the wall height, the correct distance from adjoining walls and furniture, keeping the wall art straight, and that the correct hanging system is used for the materials that your wall is made out of.
To preserve your beautiful portraits Janiece only uses a reputable pro-lab, quality acid free papers, and framing treatments that protect your art from yellowing and fading - all of which contribute to the archival quality of your portraits.
Your portraits are works of art and are sure to enliven your home with great personality and flair. After careful planning, and Janiece’s expert advice, you can admire your portraits beauty on a daily basis when you thoughtfully displayed throughout your home.