Contemporary Portrait Collage by Agentis Photography
As a portrait artist, I run into one common issue regardless of how great my photography is, “I have no more wall space”! I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time as it is common even among folks like my mother. Attempts to solve the dilemma electronically have been out there for awhile; but to be honest, I never liked those little viewers. Those are more annoying then the wall space issue. And if you get one for your elderly mother, you need to update and/or change the card periodically for her or she’ll watch the same photos for years! But then how to solve this annoying issue and continuously be able to show high quality accessible new photography.
Now, originally my interest was fine art which I maintained throughout most of college. Then along with photography I took up printmaking, etching to be precise. This I truly loved, and the meticulous craftsmanship it required really ‘had me’! The paper was so stunning to touch with the weight to elevate anything on it…all rag acid free paper…just beautiful. Well, I found a way to offer this type craftsmanship and quality of materials to my clients, and to reward myself with the having that fine art around me. These I’ll mention in some of the points below, along with some other thoughts.
1. I’ll start with updating the current wall photos; something to consider!
2. If the photo shoot yielded many good close-ups, do a collage (shown above)
3. Possibly the best idea is an album or book. With this item, all can have a book each year, every five years, do a ‘year in the life’, gift books, pocket books, etc. I’ll say right now I do not like the thin books from most of the retail, and some pro sites. That’s not to say those books have their place and are great for phone photos, etc….as it is important to capture and preserve everyday life. The books I like should also be of high quality worthy of the finer images for which one would engage a professional photographer.
4. Slideshows of each photo shoot. From the archive of my regular clients, I will offer a new updated USB flash drive with a slideshow containing photos from all the shoots to date (say the top 30-50). This is perfect for plugging into the new TVs or computer connected to the TV. To be honest, I think the DVD will become just as archaic as the cassette soon.
5. Matted Museum Prints: Top 10 selected prints on fine art museum standard archival paper, matted or float-mount with archival materials in a beautiful fine art presentation box. With this, they can display various prints whenever they like, small easel, by hand (preferable using gloves), etc. And as these would be the finest materials, they are definitely just the thing for future generations, as are the the books.
6. Fine Art Portfolio: This idea may very well be my fave! A fine art portfolio (shown below) with archival fine art deckled pages, hand-sewn in soft leather…the ideal heirloom.
Fine Art Portfolio with fine art archival paper hand sewn in a soft leather binding
7. Fine Art Greeting Cards: These are beautiful, and on the paper I love!
Fine Art Cards are printed on a premium weight textured art paper with a natural deckle and a debossed panel that frames the image.
8. New outdoor metal printing available. Great for outdoor patios, etc.
9. Large architectural installations i.e. Acrylic walls indoor or outdoors,
10. And last, but not least, Gifts! Gifts to not only family, but friends that also shoot with me. Recently, and knowing that I photograph their friends, people have contacted me to buy one of their friend’s favorite photo from the shoot. This is actually becoming more common.
If I’ve missed some, let me know…
Jacqueline Agentis