Greg and Mary Ann’s daughter reached out to me inquiring to create “engagement style retirement portraits” for her parents as a retirement gift. Yes! Totally yes. I found the concept immediately engaging. Mature life portraiture is not often prioritized or considered much by couples as they age, but it definitely should be. I’m now out to help maturing couples learn the significance of preserving their legacy. I learned so much from this experience; it was almost a window through time. It’s so wonderful to age gracefully with your significant other like these two have, and there’s a twofold value here: archiving your own legacy for future generations.
Greg is retired from the photo finishing industry, so he knowledgeably prioritizes the archiving and preservation of family memories through photographs. Regardless of photographic knowledge, holding family archives dearer is something which naturally occurs as we age. I learned this after my grandmother passed away, and I observed how more tightly my mom clung to and enjoyed her parents’ old documents and photographs. This is what is so great about photography.
While warming these two up for this lifestyle portrait session, we discussed archival portraits and how significant, how dear we hold to us now those old portraits of our late ancestors, our mothers and fathers, our grandparents and even great-grandparents. Designing these portraits of Greg and Mary Ann was such a wonderful experience and I’m very lucky they chose me to do this for them. I love that they are so forward-thinking, that they were as excited about this session as I was. They visibly still just love being around each other, doing the simplest and most satisfying things together at their home.
