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Photo treatments
Digital photography has brought an end to the mysterious process
of creating a photo - leaving your film with white-coated people
who'd return an envelope of prints days later that'd have you
murmuring, 'Who's he?' and 'Did I really look that bad?'.
Now we're
in charge. We can see pictures immediately, share them instantly,
print selectively and manipulate them in any way we want. We're
the authors of our pictorial storytelling and, frankly, don't want to
see red eye or greasy 'T' zones ever again.
Using these images to personalise our environment is a
natural extension of this ownership and a much more compelling
proposition than IKEA prints or books full of yellowing snaps.
The key to creating great photo art is knowing that there
are some techniques that you can do in a lo-fi Blue Peter kind of
way and others that are best left to the professionals (in this case,
assume the role of art director). Start by building confidence in your
pictures - print off a stack of photographs that you like. If you're
worried about your choices get a second opinion; jobs like this are
much easier and more fun with a friend on board, preferably one
who'll tell you if you look hot or not in pictures.
Then get into the groove of thinking 'Why not?' to having
a picture of your own holiday/husband/horse on the wall, if you've
taken one that's good enough. After all, your pictures will mean
more than someone else's picture will.
Silver backing
Silver backing adds luminescence,
accentuates colour and reflects
light; it'll basically make any
image look more zingy.
If you want a modern
unframed finish, get this done
professionally. If you intend to
frame the image, and the picture
will not be compromised by
being of a lower resolution, you
can do this yourself. Photocopy
or print your picture onto
acetate. Buy a piece of Perspex
and silver card the same size.
Squirt a LIGHT veil of spray
mount onto the silver card and
press your acetate image over
the top, then frame (see
opposite). I created a black and
white picture of my husband
pulling my skirt up, using the
DIY method (2), while Learn to
Dream, a top-end company that
specialises in photo art, created a
professional colour plate of my
brother's attempt at elastic
flight. (1)
Montage picture
DIY collages belong in the bin
with clip frames. Nobody is
interested in every last detail
of your trip to Magaluf, not
even you. Modern, well-spaced
montages, however, are a
different matter. Get a piece of
A3 paper and select some photos
(from a period in your life or a
specific event) that look good
together, or that actually look
better when grouped and telling
a story than on their own.
Ask a professional to
rejig the composition and blow
the whole thing up to a bigger,
more impressive size. Nothing is
more boring than photo-sized
photos. I used images from my
own wedding, my brother's
wedding and my parents' for
a three-weddings-no-funeral
montage. Learn to Dream sorted
them into a snappy composition
and added in some coloured
squares. Perfect. I didn't even
get my hands dirty. (1)
Matching frames
Grouping together framed
pictures can be really effective.
Just buy a load of old frames
in varying styles from charity
shops and car boot sales, and
spray-paint them to match.
Bright colours tend to look
awful, so let your pictures do
the talking and opt for simple
matt white or glossy black. (2)
Rejuvenate an old picture
The horse and cart photograph
(1) is my parents' favourite
wedding picture. The photo is
faded, damaged and forty years
old. The process of rejuvenating
an old photo is definitely one to
be tackled by a professional,
unless you're an absolute whiz
on Photoshop and have your own
darkroom. In which case, you're
probably a photographer already.
By meticulously retouching the
damaged areas Learn to Dream
reproduced the photo as if it had
been taken yesterday - albeit
with a few dodgy hairdos.
With old pictures the media
you choose is critical. I went
for photographic paper, which
tends to work best for old prints
(a zippy new material sometimes
looks like it's working against
the image).
On a final note, don't go
overboard. A couple in each
room is plenty. Any more and
you will look a little selfobsessed.
Especially when you
go large-scale like this. If you
can't help yourself, put pictures
out on rotation - like your
summer and winter wardrobes.
More crafts by Danielle Proud
Excerpted from House Proud by Danielle Proud, priced £16.99, published by Bloomsbury.
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