Why are family portraits so important?

I have a picture of my grandmother and grandfather hanging on my wall that was taken on their fortieth wedding anniversary, just months before my grandfather had a massive heart attack and passed away unexpectedly. While their picture is just a snapshot, enlarged and framed, it means a lot to me. I look at it and it brings back memories of my grandfather, gone nearly thirty years now. My parents and in laws have various pictures in their homes of our families through the years, each one holds a special memory of it’s own.

Today is the age of social media and digital images. Gone are the family vacation

photo albums, and the yearly trip for family portraits. I am guilty of this myself, I take pictures of my kids doing something cute on my cell phone then I post it on social media, and that’s it. By doing this we are missing out on the benefits of having an heirloom quality work of art that is our family portrait.

Studies show that when you hang your families portrait in your home you help

increase your child’s self esteem. By hanging your family’s portrait in your home you are sending a message that you consider your family important and that you cherish your memories together. Looking at a family portrait after a particularly hard day, or rough time has been shown to increase joy, as it transports the viewer back to happier memories even if only temporarily.

In the day of social media, doesn’t it send the same message if you post your

images online for the world to see? Maybe in the short term, but eventually someone in your social circle will post something else and your awesome family portraits are going to be forgotten by most. David Krauss, a licensed psychologist, says “I think it is really important to show a family as a 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.” He goes on to say “My bias is very simple. I think the family photographs should be on the wall. I am very conservative about self-esteem and I think that placing a family photo someplace in the home where the child can see it every day without having to turn on a devise, or click around on a computer to find it really hits for that child’s sense of reassurance and comfort. They have a certainty about them and a protecting quality that nurtures a child...” says Krauss.

Life goes by so fast, before we know it our kids will have kids and our life has

passed by. It would be a shame to let our most cherished milestones in our family’s story to go by without recording them on an heirloom fine art portrait. Heirloom portraits will last for years after our lifetimes, (an average of 100 years ) wouldn’t it be nice for our stories to be remembered for generations upon generations?

My paternal grandparents Pearline and Thomas Carneal in the 1990s.

Contact me today to schedule your initial consultation and we can start creating your

fine art legacy!

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