There is something to be said for tradition. It's time honored, it's
always classy, and it lasts because it works. Here's the
problem...tradition can also become stale.
There are a
million wonderful traditional portraits of people and families out
there. You can see them everywhere from living room walls to Facebook.
They are nicely posed, well lit, and filled with smiling faces that say
absolutely nothing about the family being photographed.
Don't
get me wrong, as I said before, a traditional portrait will never go
out of style because it works. I take traditional portraits and I have
them hanging in my home. They are wonderful for the family having them
taken and also as a treasure to pass to on to future generations who
will know us only by our image.
However, traditional style
portraits, FAMILY portraits in particular, are becoming old hat. They
don't show the spirit of a family. They show what the members of a
family looked like at a particular period in their lives. For the most
part, one family portrait looks very much like another. Switch the faces
around, and one would never know the difference.
As an artist, that is what I would like to change in my approach to portraiture.
On
a previous post, I shared some images from a zombie apocalypse style family photo shoot. The composition of the images is fairly similar in
style to other family portraits, but absolutely different in content.
The family that posed for those photos is fun, a bit quirky, and they
like to take risks. They had a blast at the photo shoot (so did I, for
that matter) and the images ended up very unique.
In conceptual
portraiture, every image will be unique. It will showcase not only the
particular character of the artist (that would be me *wink*), but also the irreplaceable
combination of individuals meshing together tastes and talents and characteristics that no other family possesses. Each family is one-of-a-kind and their portraits should be, too.
I
would love to be able to approach photographing families and
individuals using conceptual portraiture. I want to sit down with
people, talk about what their interests are and who they are as a
family, and then come up with a creative concept to style the photos in
such a way that the end results really speak to who they are as a unit.
Think of it like this:
Is your daughter a princess who rules the house like a tyrant? Let's create that!
Is
your son a little monster who is on top of the fridge one minute and
leaping out the window the next? Let's turn that into a photo!
When you read to your kids at night, does the fantasy come to life in the room around you? Let's capture that!
Does
your family set off on adventures like the Swiss Family Robinson? Or
does a simple game of Monopoly turn you all into monsters?
Let's take those metaphors that describe your family and turn them into pieces of art.
This
way, when the photos are finished, you don't merely have a record of
facial features, you have a piece of art that honors who your family is.
As an artist, I find it immensely fulfilling. As a
mom and a wife, I would be thrilled to have my sons' wild spirits and
my families goofy, good-natured affection captured and printed.
If
you're interested in having a one-of-a-kind piece of art that features
your unique family, check out my Casting page here on the blog. I've got
a few ideas listed there, and if you think your family fits one of
those ideas, or if you have a plan all your own, then get a hold of me! I
want to take the "sit down and say cheese" element OUT of my portraiture
and turn it into an experience that you and your family fondly remember
every time you look at your artwork.
I would LOVE to create with you.
