You’d think that the benefits of having gorgeous professional family portraits hanging on your walls would be obvious. And indeed, many of them are.
We’ve written persuasively about the reasons to have family photographs taken before. Professional family portraits show everyone at their best and mark special moments in your family’s history – births, birthdays (significant and less significant), anniversaries, moving ‘up’ schools and more. A photoshoot is a fantastic way to spend time together as a family and our special themed photoshoots, from whimsical newborn shoots to fine art fairyland portraits, are great fun for all involved.
In short, professional family photographs are magical. They chart the progress of tiny tots to (not so?) terrible teens. They can freeze time.
But perhaps more surprising is the positive effect that having family photographs displayed on your walls can have on your children’s mental health. Yes, really.
I read a fascinating blog post recently in which David Krauss, American psychologist and author of Photo Therapy and Mental Health, made the case for the benefits of family photographs on children and adolescent mental wellbeing. He says, “I think it is really important to show a family as a family unit. It is so helpful for children to see themselves as a valued and important part…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.”
It sounds so logical put like that, doesn’t it? Children see their image on the wall, framed by their parents and/or siblings, and they see their place in the world and the people who love them the most. It’s a daily reminder of who they are and where they belong. And that, in turn, strengthens their self-esteem and confidence.
Judy Weiser, a Canadian psychologist and art therapist, concurs – and, having spent over 20 years conducting treatment trials involving photographs with her clients, she’s considered an authority on the subject. Family photographs – and here’s the really interesting bit, physical family photographs in particular, i.e. framed prints, albums and canvases – “have a certainty about them and a protecting quality that nurtures a child.” Weiser insists. “They let them know where they are in the pecking order and that they are loved and cared for.”
We take more photographs in 2018 than we’ve ever done at any point in history. High quality camera phones, photo-sharing platforms like Flickr and Instagram and more focus on ‘recording the moment’ have all contributed to this photographic ‘explosion’. But Weiser insists that there’s a difference between images stored on a computer, device or tucked away on a hard drive somewhere and those that grace our walls.
Psychologist Craig Steinberg, agrees: “Touching the photograph where a face is smiling on the shoulders is the same thing as touching a book when you read it. There’s a lot of stimulation of the brain when you have that sensory experience.” A digital screen, however high-quality, can’t hope to reproduce the same power.
Taking those precious family photographs is the first step. But the next, equally crucial stage, is doing something with your beautiful images – namely, framing them and getting them up in prominent places around your home. That’s why here at Kingshill Studios we offer a full printing and framing service – all you need to do is provide us with the measurements of the space you want to fill.
Ready to turn your walls into a gorgeous family gallery? Get in touch.
Related reading:
How to get the most value from your professional family photos
