All of us store photographs of our ancestors. When you browse through the family albums you come across images from different times, you see how your family changed over the years. Those photographs sometime are the only thing left after people who lived a long time ago and the only chance to get to know the stories behind them – of your great-grandfather, who crossed the sea or your grandmother’s aunt who was a mother of 9 children. Some faces you recognize, in some you can clearly find a resemblance to your own reflection in the mirror…You might find pictures that were taken during the first years of photography – sepia-toned, a little rusted, portraits of people who lived in a totally different world. Looking at them from the perspective of nowadays’ photography they are unique artworks. And also they are personal, they tell stories, bring back memories.
Such unconventional images shouldn’t be kept hidden. Choose the best and put them in matching frames and arrange them on your walls. It doesn’t matter if your place has a modern look – when you use modern frames, it makes the place look artsy.
Those images might look really good enlarged. You could even go a step further and if your funds allow you, you could hire a graphic designer or an illustrator to work on the photographs to add some colours, modern background, different texture or some graphic elements. This would make it look like an amazing work of art and could be a perfect gift for a member of your family who is a relative of the portrayed person.
Another good tip would be making a collage of such photos. You either choose images from the same period, or create a story of either your whole family or only one member and gather photos of them – showing different moments from their lives. To see how they grew up, got married, grew old…This might be a wonderful journey to the past and a beautiful composition. Use collage photo frame to install them on the walls and enjoy the beauty and private stories kept in those old photographs everyday.