Personal Story: Photo Wall
Hello. Welcome to Ashley and David's kitchen, this is Ashley giving the tour...
Ever since I was little I always wanted pictures all over my walls. I would take the prints my Mom had made from various family events and would cut out the people and cover poster boards with them for my room. In college my first dorm room had a wall that I called my "Portrait Project" where I had done a black and white portrait of all my friends from home and hung them in rows on my wall. In our last home that we rented for three years I had various methods of sneaking this photo take over into our small home... I had photos hanging on a line with clothespins, we bought gallery tracking and hung them in the office. David appreciates a cleaner aesthetic than my photo collage craziness but I just can't help it... it's in me!!
So when we bought our house this year I got a little overwhelmed with the amount of wall space. I wanted to get pictures up, I wanted it to look like we lived here but it was so intimidating to make a choice, to really commit to hanging things up. So finally I couldn't stand it any more.... I needed my people on my walls. Eventually we are going to paint in the house because the seller's paint is terrible. I used stick-tack to put these pictures up and I am so so so very pleased with it.
During the time I was hanging the pictures I was trying to decide how many pictures of David and I alone I wanted to put on the walls. I hear it from our clients all the time - they want a big canvas from their shoot or event but is it weird to have a large picture of yourselves in your house? Will people think you are vain? Will you get tired of looking at yourself? These are valid questions and I thought these things myself as I put together the puzzle you see on our walls. You know what I decided? It's worth it.
When I walk by this wall I can feel the love radiating from the images that I have chosen... images of David and I, our families, our best friends. This is what printing your images does: Every time you see the image it is a portal back to that moment. You feel the emotions, you sense the excitement, you are warmed by the love. It is important to us to have pictures of each other in this house. I want to be reminded of the early days in our relationship, when we were first falling in love and discovering that we wanted to commit to forever with this other person. I want to remember celebrating anniversaries with David, every day life with him, sharing in friendships with other couples with him. I want to see pictures of holidays with family and fun trips with our favorite people. It connects to me those people, grounds me in the knowledge that I am loved and that I love these people. Call us vain but this wall makes us feel loved... Sometimes we need those reminders in this crazy world, yeah?
