Your Photos as Art

I must admit that I often struggle on how to display our family photos in our home. As a person who prioritizes (and wants to see) art on her walls, I am always on the hunt for chic ways to incorporate images of ourselves or loved ones in a way that fits my vibe and aesthetic. And I’m excited to say I found some great options. Finally.

When I am taking photos of the families, kids, dogs, humans, etc. that I work with, I am almost always imagining what they will look like either on your wall, as an art piece, or in a collection to put into a coffee table book. My personal favorite being in a book where all of those movements and facial expressions and sincere moments blend together to tell a story.

(I love this image of Katie+Jeff from their wedding day last November. I remember thinking as I snapped this exact image, is how great it would look framed up and on a wall)

Historically, this is how I myself have chosen to memorialize our beloved family sessions most often. I make an album (always from Artifact Uprising) with a pretty linen-bound cover that we display on our coffee table and when I get too many piled up, look pretty on a bookshelf. They are often a pricier option than say, Snapfish or Shutterfly, but worth every penny more.

Recently a family-client-turned-friend, shared a framed picture of her family on her walls and it stopped me in my tracks. I loved not only the image she chose to print, but how she opted to frame it (her frame is from Etsy!). It’s simple and striking and a little unexpected. (this also perfectly illustrates why I love photographing you in your homes so much. It’s hard to beat the emotions that naturally come out when you are in your home).

I also think investing in a high-quality frame is also worth the additional expense. Opting for these pretty brass frames from Crate+Barrel are a real game changer. And if those are a little out of your price range, I am actually really impressed with these frames from Target.

But even the best-framed picture or pictures still need to have a purpose. Scale is extremely important and I too often see very small pictures framed and hung on large walls that don’t do the images, or your walls, justice.

I myself am really loving a large scale image as my favorite way to display an image lately, but I know that a gallery wall is still a really popular choice and fun to print out multiple images if you are having a hard time choosing just one. This gallery wall set from West Elm is ready to go and I love the quality of the frames themselves. It makes the process so much easier when you can get a full set all together.

And for those a little more daring or bold, these tone-on-tone frames from Artifact Uprising are really really good. I am ordering this butter yellow one for our own home.

I’m also a big fan of a cleverly matted picture and this one from Minted is a charmer.

And lastly, I do always have a special fondness for a well-placed canvas image and the price and quality from mpix has my stamp of approval (plus, no additional framing costs…just hang it on your wall!)

(I snapped this last week when we were visiting our dear friends in Wilmington. I took this family photo of them a few years before they moved away from Michigan and it’s still a favorite. I snapped this to share as I loved how they incorporated this into their dining nook area.)

If you are wanting any input on which image(s) to choose, I truly love an image with movement and some negative space. Or a bit of unexpected whimsy to it.

(this is Whitney+Ryan with their beautiful Percheron horses. I loved this shoot with them last fall and like that the picture feels like you are in this scene with them)

(this is an image I took of the Yost family last fall in Chicago of their boys under this iconic weeping willow tree on the shores of Lake Michigan)

(and one more to illustrate my point that one cool, graphic image is striking and makes a great art piece for your walls. This is the Mackey family and while it’s an old image, it’s truly such a good one).

So where should you be printing, now that you are inspired to get your images up on the walls (or in a book?). Locally, I love Unit Prints (specifically, the Deep Fuji Matte). Not locally, I love the quality all-around of Artifact Uprising.

If you have any imagery of how you have chosen to display your pictures in your own house, I would love to have you share them with me!

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And to end this article, if you didn’t see my IG stories earlier this week, I was recently interviewed for the Bad Idea Social Club podcast, kicking off their 7th season. Give it a listen if you want to hear a little more about my process and how I have evolved as an artist.

Click HERE to listen.

If you enjoyed this article and think it might help others, feel free to share. If you have any questions or things you would like me to go into further detail about, I’m all ears!

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Thanks for reading!