In the years I have been in business there have been regular learning experiences. Mostly good ones. Its been an interesting road, and I’m excited to say I am excited for the path laying before me!
My goal for each session is to create a piece of photographic art to proudly display in your home.
I am a “Wall Portrait Photographer.”
I am not a huge believer in releasing digital files, the work I put into each image can never really be appreciated to their potential from printing from a big box printing lab. I offer high quality life time wall art to be viewed in your home as a reminder of your love for each other, as well as allowing children to feel the confidence in their family relationships by seeing themselves and the family daily….. on the wall; seeing their bond with their family. (This is a timeless lost art)
Why wall portraits?
An intresting study was conducted in 1975 with a group of fourth graders at a Tennessee school by Tulane University. During a five week period, the children took Polaroid instant photos of themselves with provided cameras in a variety of assigned poses, compositions and expressing various emotions. The children worked with the printed images of themselves and created scrapbooks once a week over those five weeks. Testing of the students and teachers at the conclusion of study revealed a significant increase of 37 percent in the students’ average self-esteem behaviors. This Murfreesboro Study shows some evidence personal photography of children seen and enjoyed in a specific way can help boost a child’s self-esteem.
David Krauss is one of the earliest pioneers in using people’s personal photography and family photos in albums to assist in mental health counseling and therapy. He co-authored “Photo Therapy and Mental Health” in 1983 that is considered a founding text for the use of photography in therapy. To quote him “I think it is really important to show a family as a family unit. It is so helpful for children to see themselves as a valued and important part of that family unit. A photographer’s job is to create and make the image look like a safe holding space for kids where they are safe and protected. Kids get it on a really simple level.”
Children learn genealogy from looking at old family photos and seeing how they different family members relate in the images as well as identifying family characteristics.
With the growing popularity of tablets, smart phones and the personal computer more and more families are viewing images in an electronic form. When you ask Krauss his preference he responds simply that a daily reminder on the wall carries a much greater impact on self-esteem. The wall portrait shows a place of permanence that cannot be erased.
