Aren’t Family Portraits outdated?

What’s the big deal? It’s just a picture or is it?

Family are the people who we spend life with, the holidays, evenings in front of the television, weekends in wine country, hiking the mountains. These are the moments that make the stories that make our country great. Great American Portraits are the moments visually that go with your story.

There are many reasons for commissioning a family portrait, each as unique as the family! Many families commission portraits to acknowledge and celebrate a life achievement or milestone. As a matter of fact, what achievement is greater than having your own happy family. Others want to remember the place and time they’re at today. Maybe it’s that beach vacation or living the SoCal lifestyle. No matter what your reason is, the best time to have your portrait created is now.

Need a little more reason? How about happiness and self-esteem?

The Murfreesboro Study:

In 1975, a well-known study was conducted with a group of fourth graders in a Murfreesboro, Tennessee school by Tulane University. The children were selected to participate based on low scores on a self-esteem test. They were given Polaroid cameras with an assignment to take pictures of themselves in a variety of poses that expressed both different and specific emotions they were experiencing. Over the course of five weeks, the children used those sixty pictures of themselves to create scrapbooks. After the five weeks had passed, the students were tested once more. Not surprisingly, the students’ test scores showed a significant increase in their behavioral self-esteem.

 

A sense of love and belonging:

“It lets children learn who they are and where they fit,” says Judy Weiser. a psychologist, art therapist and author based in Vancouver. “They learn their genealogy and the uniqueness of their own family and its story. When a child sees a family portrait with them included in the photograph, they say to themselves: ‘These people have me as part of what they are, that’s why I belong here. This is where I come from.”

You work hard as parent, first awake, last to sleep, kid taxi, soccer practice, dance, home schooling, in-class schooling and oh, yea that dream of ONLY WORKING 40 hours a week, now with Zoom meetings and lunchtime showers. The concept of normal is becoming more and more of a dream as we lose touch with our close friends and family. It is one thing to tell Grandma and Grandpa that the kids are fine or to tell your brothers and sisters that everything is good while stressing over whether or not family will safely visit over the next holiday. Now more than ever your relatives and close friends will feel more relieved in seeing your family’s smiling faces on their own photo wall, nightstand, tabletop or over the mantel in the living room. Seeing the ones, you love, without having to work to see them is simple reassuring and brings countless smiles every time you or a relative walk by that portrait. It is something we can do to provide a smile and a virtual hug to the ones we love.

In closing I would like to share our family portrait. We had no idea that in 2020 we would not be allowed to visit for the first time in 20 years. Our niece and nephew have graduated middle school and won karate awards, mom just celebrated turning 80 and so much more. Every time we see this in our living room we smile; even being an ocean away. For us, and we hope for you too, having a family portrait IS A BIG DEAL.

Love & Happiness

Duane