If you had to leave your house in an emergency, what is the first thing you would grab to pack? The answer is almost unanimously “my pictures”.
When I had to interview people in an assignment for school, I had to ask the question what is your most prized photograph. Everyone I spoke to was able to instantly mention a portrait of a beloved family member who has passed away and all of them claimed these portraits were priceless. The next question I would ask is how much is a family portrait worth to you. None of the answers I received said “priceless”. Most people responded with a value amount under $100.
This surprised me because I look at our family portraits as a snapshot of our history. At some point in time, the very family portrait we had taken this year will be an heirloom to a future family member. Not one single response in my interviews associated their own personal family portrait with being an heirloom that was priceless? Why is this? You will become an ancestor to a future generation, your portrait will become an heirloom. Someday, someone will look at your family portrait and marvel at the way things were in “old times”. Someday, someone will be forever grateful to have your heirloom portrait!
So let me ask you this, who is in your most prized heirloom portrait? Now let me ask you, what would have happened to this image if this person decided that their portrait was not worth any money? What if this person didn’t want their portrait taken because they felt “fat” at the time, or they were worried about whether or not all of their children would behave? To you this is a prized heirloom portrait, to them it was probably something they really didn’t want to have done!
A portrait captures the way your family is right now. Look at this portrait of the Pruden family – technically speaking it is not a proper portrait, everybody is not looking the same way, the boys aren’t smiling sweetly but look closer. This is a family of two young busy boys, the boys did not sit still at all and were not interested in having their portrait taken! But this is an accurate portrayal of how this family is right now, when Karla and John look back in twenty years from now at this portrait. I bet they will smile and I bet they will be forever grateful for the memory.
Don’t worry about behavior, looks or value, focus instead on creating a heirloom that will represent your family for generations to come.