Jackie Bee’s Stairwell Gallery

Jackie Bee and I met and have gotten to know each other through a mutual friend. While we were all at the lake over Labor Day weekend, she scheduled a session with me and knew exactly what she wanted. (I love it when a client has a specific idea and wants me to shoot towards that! It’s a fun challenge!) She told me she wanted large close-ups featuring her kids’ faces in black and white for her stairwell. So, later that month we met at the studio with this focus. When her proofing gallery was ready to view online, I went over to Jackie Bee’s house to look at her stairwell so we could talk about how she would hang them and what sizes she needed for the space. The result was an amazing staircase gallery!

Jackie Bee just got the images hung yesterday, and since I had a print order ready for her, I asked her if I could drop them by so I could take a few shots of her stairwell. I needed an extreme wide angle lens to get all of the images in the tightness of the stairwell space, but I don’t have one of those because I rarely have the need for one. So, I had to do the best I could with the wide angle I do have. These photos of the space don’t quite do it justice but I wanted to share them with you anyway for two reasons…1) to show you that you can really make an empty stairwell have that “wow” factor with a photo gallery and 2) to show you that you need to print the photos large (or groupings of smaller images), otherwise they look like postage stamps and won’t fill the area. All four of these images are 20×24 then matted and framed. I love the clean-lined, simple frames Jackie Bee chose so that the focus remains on the photographs of her precious children.
I also appreciate her letting me share these images with you. Maybe they will help you define a space in your home for a photo gallery.

You can also view an older post of my personal stairwell gallery here, which shows how to use smaller candid groupings of photographs to fill the space.

2 responses to “Jackie Bee’s Stairwell Gallery”

  1. Laura Black Avatar
    Laura Black

    That is so warm and inviting. Most of the time when you go into someone’s house the stairwell seems to form a barrier stating that the upstairs is off limits. I hope Jackie Bee doesn’t mind people all over her house because that stairwell is so captivating that you have to walk up it to see what’s next. Nicely done.

    1. Heather Durham Photography Avatar

      Thanks so much Laura! I was so pleased with how her vision came to life! Just so glad she asked me to help make it happen! 🙂

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