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Storytelling
Portrait Photography
How to Document the Lives of Children and Families

Paula Ferazzi Swift Kodak Gallery Portrait Award Winner

 I dedicate this book to my husband Chris
who believed in my talent as a photographer
when we first met in college as communications
for me every step of the way. I also would like to
thank my three boys Ryan, Trevor, and Logan for
being my daily inspirations and for dealing with
majors. He stood behind me through my career my camera from the moment they entered this
as a photojournalist and supported my decision world. If it weren’t for them, I would not be the
to open a child and family portrait photography photographer I am today.
studio. I would like to thank him for being there Paula Ferazzi Swift

Author a Book with Amherst Media!

Are you an accomplished photographer with devoted fans? Consider authoring a book with us and
share your quality images and wisdom with your fans. It’s a great way to build your business and brand
through a high-quality, full-color printed book sold worldwide. Our experienced team makes it easy and
rewarding for each book sold—no cost to you. E-mail [email protected] today!

Copyright © 2017 by Paula Ferazzi Swift

All rights reserved.
All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Published by:
Amherst Media, Inc., P.O. Box 538, Buffalo, N.Y. 14213
www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins
Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt and Beth Alesse
Acquisitions Editor: Harvey Goldstein
Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth
Editorial Assistance from: Ray Bakos, Rebecca Rudell, Jen Sexton
Business Manager: Adam Richards

ISBN-13: 978-1-68203-148-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016945445
Printed in The United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the
publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience and opin-
ions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

www.facebook.com/AmherstMediaInc
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 Contents

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Multiple, Simple Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Time to Warm Up  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Entertained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Capturing Genuine Smiles  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Position Quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Morning Light Filtered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Children Will Do Things, Over and Over . . . . . 32
Make the Session Fun  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Sunlight as a Backlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Genuine Moments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Tea for Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Formal Portrait in the Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Not Feeling Stressed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Photojournalism Skills  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 If They Don’t Like the Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Foreground to Show Who Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Keep Them in One Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Document a Fleeting Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sitting Babies in a Crate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Multiple Ages  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Leading Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Interacting and Trusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Warmer Colors and Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
A Sweet Moment  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Sunlit Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Filter through the Trees  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Open Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Get More in the Foreground  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Siblings and Their Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Children Grow So Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Pets Posing According to Species . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Layering the Subjects  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Cats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Apply Filter to Desaturate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A Series from a Family Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Background Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Using Available Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The Bag of Tricks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Who’s Walking Who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
A Moment of Looking  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Show Natural, Late-Afternoon Light . . . . . . . . . 42
Eskimo Kisses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Matching Sweaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Adorable Twins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Matching Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Positioning for the Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A Great Memory Captured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A Sense of Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Amazing Personalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Not Looking at the Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Priceless Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
End-of-Session Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Out-of-Focus Subject Can Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Ring Around the Rosie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Follow the Subject, Change Focus . . . . . . . . . . 45
Song Bring Them Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Keep Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Have Them Whisper Something . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Catch Those Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Funny Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A Kiss for Him . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 A Beautiful Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
A Fun Storytelling Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Shoot Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
A Red Wagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Running and Walking Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Genuine Smiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Document the Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Warm Afternoon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Just Out of the Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
A Simple Prop Helps Catch the Moment . . . . . 25 Create a Silhouette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
An Expression that Tells the Story . . . . . . . . . . . 26 A Wide-Angle Lens for Sense of Location . . . . . 53
Best Smile and Eye Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Silhouettes, a Favorite Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Contained in One Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Recreate a Silhouette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Color Harmony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Time for Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
An Amazing Prop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 A Welcome Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Let Them Have Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Time to Warm Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
A Fun and Easy Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Start Two Hours Before Sunset . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Add a Filter to Match the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 A Storytelling Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

contents 3
Following Them Up the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Open Shade on the Porch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Go-to Action Poses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Happiness and Giggles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
In Action with Their Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Get to Know You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Moments of a Child’s Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 A Peek-a-Boo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Documenting Family Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Happy Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Keepsakes of Mommy-and-Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 A Favorite Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Looking at the Same Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Capture Their Pauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
A Special Moment Captured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 The Things They Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Ready for the Swan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 A Parent or Assistant Should Always Be Near . 98
Picturesque Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Two Subjects with Selected Focus . . . . . . . . . . . 99
A Nice Snuggle Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 A Zoom Lens Follows the Action . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
A Kiss on the Cheek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Finding the Right Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
A Moment to Remember . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Noisemakers to Get Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
The Setting Sun Lights a Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Photographic Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
The Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Time to Discover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
A Great Trick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Capturing Moments of Discovery . . . . . . . . . . 102
Time in between Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Looking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
So Expressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 “Look at Me” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
More In-between Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Recording the Awe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Affection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Backlit Bubbles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
A Kiss on the Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Offer a Captivating Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Showing Their Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Reposition Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Cheek to Cheek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Different Heights of Fence Rails . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Then and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 No Prompting Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Together and Interacting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Angle to Exaggerate Size and Height . . . . . . . 108
Hugs For a Beautiful Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Switch to a Telephoto Lens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Have Siblings Interact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 A Dramatic Feel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Something Fun to Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Discovering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
A Few Seconds to Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Mom Is Just out of the Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Yellow Leaf Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Zoomed In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
A Beautiful Light from Behind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Overcast Sky Filters the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
A Colorful Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Piggyback Ride Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
A Reflector for Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 An Interactive Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Four Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 More in-between Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Moving Keeps Them Engaged . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 During a Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Follow the Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Into the Leaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Down the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Journalistic Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 A Moment, Stopped and Remembered . . . . . 116
Capture the Peak Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 A Timeless Feel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Key Motions Are Clues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Departing Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
A Starting Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Little Walks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Be Ready with another Camera and Lens . . . . 86 Returning Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Moving to a Second Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Free and Roaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Zoom in to Capture Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Finding That I’ve Made a Capture . . . . . . . . . .122
Doing It Over and Over Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Show a Progression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Multiple Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 A Perfect Walking Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
A Great Place to Sit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
A Warm Tone from the Setting Sun . . . . . . . . . . 90 Fill Gear for Natural Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
A Great Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 A Tri-Grip Reflector and a Place to Sit . . . . . . . 125
Photographing Children at Their Home . . . . . . 92 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Photojournalistic Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

4 Storytelling Portrait Photography

 About The Author

sional organizations as the Professional Photographers

of America, Professional Photographers Association of
Massachusetts, and American Society of Photographers.
In 2009 Paula was the recipient of the Hallmark
Award for best color portrait. She was also presented the
Kodak Gallery Portrait Award for the highest scoring
portrait print, judges choice ribbon, and three blue merit
ribbons at the Professional Photographers Association of
Massachusetts annual print competition, 2010 through
Image by Christopher Swift 2016. Her work was recognized and awarded the high-
est honor of Loan Collection and General Collection

P aula Ferazzi Swift, M. Photog., Cr., CPP, is a Master

Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, Certi-
fied Professional Photographer, and an international,
at the Professional Photographers of America Interna-
tional Photographic Competition. Recently, Paula Swift
Photography was featured by CBS Boston as one of the
award-winning photographer working in the Boston best Boston Family Photographers. Paula continues to
metropolitan area. She specializes in the art of captur- grow her craft by attending professional photography
ing images of children, their families, and relationships seminars and workshops, and she is currently sharing her
of couples. Paula’s professional photography studio is in knowledge by speaking at seminars and authoring books.
Sudbury, MA. Her work has been published in a variety of publica-
Photography has been Paula’s passion ever since tions, including The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The
she was a child, as she was the subject of many photos Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington
taken by her older sister, a photojournalist. She received Times, Time, Newsweek, USA Today, and Esquire.
her first manual camera and introduction to its magical In 2015, Paula Swift began teaching other photog-
world at age thirteen. Later, she received two college raphers about newborn photography and storytelling
degrees in photography. Paula received an A.S. in Visual portrait photography. She also speaks throughout New
Arts-Photography and B. S. in Communications Media- England on her photojournalism experience and how
Photography. She worked as a staff photojournalist at the she incorporates that unique career into her everyday
Worcester Telegram & Gazette for ten years. After having portrait photography work.
had her first son in April 2003, Paula decided on a new Paula, who grew up in Longmeadow, MA, cur-
path into the world of children and family portraiture. rently lives in Framingham, MA with her husband Chris
Paula is a nationally-recognized photographer for her and their three sons Ryan, Trevor, and Logan—her
published work in newspapers and magazines. She has inspirations.
been nominated for and won several national and inter-
national awards including the recognition of her and the www.paulaswift.com
photography staff at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette as www.facebook.com/PaulaSwiftPhotography
finalists for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photog- www.twitter.com/PaulaSwiftPhoto
raphy for their coverage of the Worcester Warehouse fire www.youtube.com/user/PaulaSwiftPhoto
that killed six Worcester, MA, firefighters. Paula has won
National Press Photographers Association and New Eng-
land Associated Press Editors Association awards for her
photojournalism work, as well as local advertising awards
for her photography. She is a member of such profes-

About the author 5

 field and had the
big brother who
was three years old
try and tickle her
as mom and dad
did, too. What
worked perfectly
was when big
brother took a
long piece of grass
to engage his little
sister. Everyone
was smiling and
giggling in the
moment. I love
that they weren’t
looking at the
camera during this
family moment.
Time to Warm Up Late afternoon light was filtered by light
A family of four, with a three-year-old and cloud cover, which was perfect for this open-
one-year-old, hired me to photograph them sky session.
on a fall afternoon. The little one-year-old
girl needed some time to warm up to me. specs > Canon Mark III with 135 2.0 lens at 1/500
So I started with the family sitting down in a second, F3.5, and ISO 400.

Capturing Genuine Smiles

Once the little girl and family were comfort-
able with me, laughs and smiles were abun-
dant during their fall session. We had about
an hour of nice light left. The sun peeked
through the back of a Japanese maple,
adding warm fall colors on a day when the
season’s foliage had not quite turned in
this New England location. I love captur-
ing genuine smiles that families share during
their sessions.

specs > Canon Mark III with 135 2.0 lens at 1/500
second, F3.5, and ISO 400.

6 Storytelling Portrait Photography

 specs > Canon Mark II using a 70–200 II IS at
Morning Light Filtered 160mm, f/4, 1/250 second, and ISO 250.
This family returned to celebrate their son’s
one-year birthday. I had photographed him
for his newborn session, so it was great to
see him outdoors and to see him grow up
into a little boy. This image was taken in May I had favorable
when the leaves were nice and green, and the
open sky behind
morning light was filtered by the tree cover.
I had favorable open sky behind me helping me helping to light
to light the family. Mom and dad just looked
and talked to their boy as he smiled away in the family.
his mom’s arms. The eye contact that mom
and dad had with their son was beautiful at
this moment.

Storytelling Portrait Photography 7

 son and their daughter came running
up behind dad. It was a moment in
between moments, but they all looked
at my camera at the same time as I
fired away to capture those authentic
expressions.
It was an overcast morning with
open sky behind them and in front of
them for natural fill.

specs > Canon Mark II using a 70–200 at

150mm, f/4, 1/640 second, and ISO 200.

Genuine Moments
I love to sit young families down on the
ground during their sessions whenever
possible. This helps for the younger
children to feel more at ease and not
as nervous when I’m photographing
them. Especially when it’s their first ses-
sion with me. They soon learn to trust
me, as mom and dad are smiling and so
is their older sibling. This session was
one of those instances. Big brother had
been photographed by me years before
and seemed very comfortable with me;
his brother definitely had some reserva-
tions. However, once they sat down
and mom raised him up in the air,
his brother tickled his belly, everyone
started laughing and he began to smile
Make the Session Fun and have fun. He forgot I was there, which is
important so that I can capture those genu-
I first met this family when their little girl ine moments during my family sessions.
was just four months old. Fast forward a few They are sitting under tree cover on an
years and she is a big three-and-one-half- early fall morning with open sky in front of
year-old sister to her little eighteen-month- them for fill. I laid down on my belly a bit to
old brother. These ages can be tough if you get lower than them.
try to pose them. I made it an enjoyable
session by letting them have fun. I sat the specs > Canon Mark III using a 135mm, f/3.5, 1/500
parents down in the grass as mom held her second, and ISO 400.

8 Storytelling Portrait Photography

Formal Portrait in the Park throughout this location. His twins wanted
to be near dad and to touch the trombone,
It was a beautiful fall morning when I met so mom kept on trying to hold them back
this family for a formal portrait session in the gently. I loved this moment as it appeared for
Boston Public Gardens. They had nearly- just a few seconds.
two-year-old twins who were on the go. The
foliage was a great combination with the col- specs > Canon Mark II using a 135mm, f/4, 1/500
ors they wore. Mom and dad would lift each second, and ISO 250.
child up as they would try
to run toward the lagoon.
I followed them through-
out the location, capturing
them as they carried on.
This captured moment was
great as the little girl peered
over at me and smiled. The
sky was overcast with light
reflected in from a nearby
building and the pond-
water surface.

specs > Canon EOS 5D Mark

II using a 70–200mm,
f/2.8, 1/500 second,
and ISO 400.

Photojournalism
Skills
I use my photojournalism
skills at every session, wait-
ing for those unexpected
moments like this one. Dad
had brought his trombone
to the session and started
playing it at the Boston
Public Gardens, which if
you have ever been to the
garden, is not unheard
of. Lots of musicians play

Storytelling Portrait Photography 9

 Foreground to Show
Who Rules
I photographed this family with their
one-year-old son who loved to show
me around their family farm. I wanted
to show how he was the ruler of the
family, in a nice way, and created a
layer by placing him in the foreground
with his parents smiling in the back-
ground. They stood under green tree
cover, and I used the sky and house
behind me for a nice natural fill.

specs > Canon Mark II using a 70–200mm at

85, f/3.5, 1/500 second, and ISO 250.

This is a great
moment, especially
for a new walker.

Document a Fleeting Time

After capturing him looking my way,
I had his mom and dad call him so
he would walk back their way. This is
a great moment, especially for a new
walker. It documents that fleeting time
from toddler to boyhood—a stage
which passes in the blink of an eye,
and parents forget how quickly it hap-
pens. He was still under tree cover, so
my exposure stayed the same.

specs > Canon Mark II using a 70–200mm at

85, f/3.5, 1/500 second, and ISO 250.

10 Storytelling Portrait Photography

Multiple Ages
When it comes to photograph-
ing families with multiple
children and age ranges, it can
add a degree of difficulty. Do
you want them all looking at
the camera or looking at each
other? I had been photograph-
ing this family since their two
older girls were just babies.
They knew my journalistic style
of photography and knew what
to do. I had them sit near the
top of this old bridge as I got
down a little lower than them.
Then I had them cheer for
their one-year-old son and only
brother. He was thrilled by this
and started clapping himself. I
fired off a few frames, but this
image is the one—kids clapping
and smiling, as parents looked
at them proudly. It was photo-
graphed on an overcast, early
summer morning. No light
modifiers used.

specs > Canon Mark II using a

70-182mm at 182, f/4, 1/500
second, and ISO 200.

Interacting
and Trusting
get to smile as dad handed her a small yellow
Parents interacting with their child is impor- wildflower he found in the field they were
tant in order to get the youngster to trust sitting in.
me before I start to photograph them solo.
I always start with the whole family first so specs > Canon 5D Mark II using a 70–200mm at 95,
this trust can be gained. This little girl didn’t f/3.5, 1/500 second, and ISO 320.
need much prompting, as she was easy to

Storytelling Portrait Photography 11

A Sweet Moment quite walking yet and had a little stranger fear
of me at first. Shy children are very common,
I met this family on a late spring morning at and when you bring out that long lens it can
the Boston Public Gardens to photograph be scary to them. I started photographing
the family with their young son. He wasn’t mom and dad holding and talking to him, so
he was aware of my
camera even though
I stepped back. At
this moment dad held
him, mom grabbed
his hand, and he
looked over at her.
Such a sweet moment.

specs > Canon Mark

III using a 70–200mm
at 110, f/3.5, 1/80 1/800
second, and ISO 250.

Filter through
the Trees
He soon started
to warm up to me,
and mom and dad
watched as he started
smiling my way, while
still in the comfort of
dad’s arms.
Sun is filtered
through the trees with
some fill from open
sky behind me.

specs > Canon Mark III

using a 70–200mm at
150, f/3.5, 1/800 second,
and ISO 250.

12 Storytelling Portrait Photography

Get More
in the Foreground
I positioned the family on the
ground for this next portrait. Their
son was now enjoying the session,
and I loved seeing all the white pet-
als on the grass that had fallen off
the trees. The beautiful tulips in
the background added a nice touch
of color. I laid down on my belly
to get more of the foreground in
the frame and to get a little lower
than them. Just then, the little
boy started to giggle and smile as
mom looked at the camera and dad
smiled at them. He was tugging on
his mom’s hair, and he was being
so cute at the same time.

specs > Canon Mark III using a 70–

200mm at 170, f/3.5, 1/800 second,
and ISO 250.

Children Grow So Fast

We ended their session with mom
walking him barefoot through
the grass and petals at the public
gardens. I find these moments so
important to photograph for mom
and dad. Children grow so fast that
to have these memories in photo-
graphs will make these moments
last a lifetime.

specs > Canon Mark III using a 70–

200mm at 200, f/3.5, 1/800 second,
and ISO 250.

Storytelling Portrait Photography 13

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 In all the houses which are carefully decorated in London great use is
made of tiles. The tiles which are unrivalled in the esteem of artists are the
old Dutch, which consequently have been nearly all bought up. A single old
Dutch tile, which when made hardly cost more than a sixpence, now finds
eager purchasers at a pound. It is a singular fact that our manufacturers can
imitate Persian and Egyptian tiles, but have still to send to Holland to get
anything resembling the old Dutch, and even there they can obtain but an
approach to the rich coloring and quaint designs of old times. Mr.
Stevenson, the architect whose book has been referred to on a previous
page, obtained a large number of these old tiles, which when put together
formed large pictures; but several of them were wanting, and he had to
make designs of what those he possessed appeared to imply were on the
others. He had tiles made which, at any rate, completed the pictures; and
though the new ones were carefully made, they may be easily picked out
from the old. These tile pictures have been placed by Mr. Stevenson on the
side of a sheltered entrance that leads from the street across the front-yard
to his beautiful residence in Bayswater. Inside of this house there are many
beautiful things, but it is chiefly remarkable for the admirable mantel-pieces
on the ground-floor and that above it—in the hall common to both—which
show rich old carvings set with tiles, chiefly Persian and Dutch, which are
built from floor to ceiling. In the children’s school-room there is a chimney-
piece covered with Dutch tiles representing most quaintly all the most
notable scenes in the Bible, which must be a source of endless amusement
to the little ones. The finest designs for tiles which I have seen in London
are those of Messrs. Morris & Co., whose pictures, however, are often so
beautiful that one dislikes to see them ornamenting fireplaces. Nevertheless,
the grate and its arrangements are becoming matters of serious importance
in every room, and a walk through the establishment of Messrs. Boyd, in
Oxford Street, will show that the “warming engineers” have not been
behindhand in providing stoves, tiles, and grates that may be adapted to
many varieties of decoration. These gentlemen tell me that they are
continually on the watch to get hold of old grates, fenders, fire-dogs, and so
forth, that were made a hundred years ago, on account of the great demand
for them, and that they reproduce them continually; nevertheless they
believe that they can produce a prettier grate now than could have been
made in the last century. The engraving on page 198 represents a grate
found in an English mansion about one hundred years ago. The one on this
page represents a grate recently made for the late Baron Rothschild. The
one on page 200 represents a grate and fireplace designed and made by
Messrs. Boyd, which appears to me one of the most beautiful I have yet
seen.

GRATE MADE FOR BARON ROTHSCHILD.

In the houses thus far described I have mentioned several which have
been decorated in whole or in part by Messrs. Morris & Co., but have
reserved until now a special treatment of their style. Their decorations, apart
from their undeniable beauty, derive importance from the fact that they can
be adapted to the requirements of persons with moderate incomes, or to the
needs of those who are prepared to pay large sums. The firm in question—
as befits a company whose head is one of the most graceful of living poets
—has mastered the Wordsworthian secret of
“The eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony.”
 BOYD’S GRATE.

Of the many different papers with which they hang rooms, only a few
have appeared to me unsuited for the purposes of a refined decoration of
almost any room. One, an imitation of square trellis-work, with a bird
sitting in each opening, I have seen on the walls of a bedroom (which, I
suspected, might have been originally intended for a nursery; in which case
I am not prepared to say that it might not have appeared in place), where it
was not pleasing, and it has appeared to my eye frivolous in sitting-rooms.
Nor do I altogether like their lemon-yellows, which are so well placed in
corridors, to find their way (as they sometimes do) into drawing-rooms; that
color, however adapted for daylight, suffers bleaching by candle or gas
light. But generally their wall-papers are of beautiful grays—pearl, sage, or
even darker—and, while full of repose and dignity by day, light up well
under any artificial light. This firm also does the finest wall mouldings in
relief that I have met with. A remarkable instance of this may be found in
the Grill Room at the South Kensington Museum, to which reference has
already been made. And a somewhat similar moulding is still more
effectively used in the drawing-room of the Hon. Mr. Howard, in his house
at Palace Gardens—a willow pattern, with buds, on a cream-colored
background, which rises to a deep frieze of green. In two rooms of the same
mansion the light pomegranate paper, with shut and open flowers, is used
with good effect. In the dining-room the general hue is faint pink, and this is
also pleasing. In the nursery there is an exceedingly beautiful paper of wild
daisies on a mottled ground. Mr. Howard is not only an artist himself, but a
collector of pictures and other objects of art. His walls have in a great
measure been decorated with the idea of adapting them to the purpose of
displaying to the best advantage the quaint old cabinets which he possesses,
and the many fine pictures of pre-Raphaelist art which adorn his walls. On
one of the landings of the stairway there is a fine organ, upon which Dr.
Burne Jones has painted a charming picture of St. Cecilia playing on her
keys. This picture sheds light and beauty around, and shows how much may
be done in a house by having such objects brought into the general system
of ornamentation adopted in the house. It is hardly enough to bring into the
house furniture of a color which is vaguely harmonious with the wall-paper;
by a little decoration even the piano, the cabinet, the book-case, may be
made to repeat the theme to which the walls have risen.
Dr. Burne Jones—for Oxford has bestowed on him its D.C.L., to its own
honor as much as his—has decorated a grand piano with finest art. Around
its bands is told the fable of Orpheus, the potency of music, in scenes of
classical, but not conventional, treatment. On the lid is a Muse leaning from
an oriel of the blue sky; beneath stands a poet musing; and between them is
a scroll inscribed with a bit of old French, “N’oublié pas”—motto of the
family for whom the piano was made. At another end of the lid is painted
amid bay-leaves the page of a book, with illuminated letters here and there,
the lines being those of one of Dante’s minor poems, beginning, “Fresca
rosa novella.” But all these beauties are surpassed when the lid is lifted.
Amid the strings, which are exposed, there is a drift of roses, as if blown
into little heaps at the corners by the breath of music. On the interior surface
is painted a picture to be gazed on with silent admiration, for few can be the
strains from those keys which will interpret the subtle sense of the picture.
The only name given is Terra Omniparens. Between the thorns and the
roses sits this most beautiful Mother, naked and not ashamed, with many
babes around her. Above, beneath, around, amid the foliations they are seen
—impish, cherubic, some engaged in ingenuities of mischief, others in
deeds of kindliness and love. Greed, avarice, cruelty, affection, prayer, and
all the varieties of these are represented by these little faces and forms.
Some nestle around the Mother; one has fallen asleep on her lap. The fair
Mother is serene; she is impartial as the all-nourishing, patient Earth she
typifies; all the discords turn to harmonies in her eternal generation. Her
impartial love waits on the good and the evil; she is one with the art that
“shares with great creating Nature.”
 Although the hangings of Morris & Co. do not imply a lavish, but only a
liberal, expenditure, they do not readily adapt themselves to a commonplace
house inhabited by commonplace people. There must be thousands of these
square-block houses with square boxes for rooms which would only be
shamed by the individualities of their work. The majority of houses attain
the final cause of their existence when the placard inscribed “To Let” may
be taken down from their windows. No doubt the decorative artist might do
a great deal toward breathing a soul even into such a house, if it were
inhabited by a family willing to pay the price. But there are houses built
with other objects than “to let,” built by or for persons of taste and culture,
and to such the decorations of Messrs. Morris & Co. come as a natural
drapery. Mr. Ionides, who has just entered a new house in Holland Park
Villas, has shown, by adopting in it decorations similar to those of the
smaller house he has left, that, after many years, the hangings of Morris &
Co. still appear to him the most beautiful; and it is significant of the spirit in
which he has carried out his own feeling in both cases that he has steadily
refused to let the house his family had outgrown to all applicants who
proposed to pull down its papers and dados, and convert the house into the
normal commonplace suite of interiors. He preferred to retain for some
time, at a loss, that which he and his artistic friends built up with so much
pains, rather than have it pass into inappreciative hands. In the new
residence of Mr. Ionides he has found a beautiful hanging for his drawing-
room in a Morris paper of willow pattern, with two kinds of star-shaped
blossoms, white and yellow, which harmonizes well with the outlook of the
room into a conservatory. The curtains of the bay-window in the spring
season are of Oriental cream-colored linen, with flowers embroidered in
outline (light gold), and at wide intervals, upon them. The paper in the large
dining-room is the small floral square (sage-gray) pattern of Messrs. Morris
& Co., which harmonizes well with the red carpet, the pictures, and the
green-golden lustres of the velvet curtains. Mr. E. Danreuther, in whose
brilliant successes as interpreter of the “Music of the Future” America as
well as Germany has reason for pride, has his residence in Orme Square
decorated mainly with the Morris patterns. The house is quaint and old, and
nothing can exceed the sympathetic feeling with which these designs
harmonize with the style of the halls and rooms. It is a picture for the
imagination to think of Carlyle and Sterling (who once resided here)
conversing on great themes amid these quietly rich, these even poetical
designs and colors. Nearest to that imaginary picture is the real one which I
have seen a little way from Orme Square, namely, in the villa of the late Mr.
Edward Sterling, son of the poet John Sterling, himself an artist, who had
used his own excellent taste, and that of his wife (a sister of Marcus Stone),
in adorning his house at Kensington. An especially fine appearance has
been given to a high wall which stretches through two stories beside the
stairway by changing the style and color of the (Morris) paper midway, and
thus breaking the monotony. The hangings of the lower hall are dark, and
the light shed down from the higher wall is thus heightened. In this, as in
the majority of beautiful houses, the first effect at the entrance is that of
shade. The visitor who has come from the blaze of daylight is at once
invited to a kindly seclusion. Beyond the vestibule the light is reached
again, but now blended with tints and forms of artistic beauty. He is no
longer in the hands of brute Nature, but is being ministered to by humane
thought and feeling, and gently won into that mood
“In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world
Is lightened.”

That mood, my reader will easily understand, cannot be secured by the

papers of Morris & Co.; but where a true artist is able to find such artistic
materials as theirs to work with, he is able, as in the case of Mr. Sterling, to
weave them on the warp of his own mind and sentiment into a home which
shall not fail to distribute its refining and happy influences to all who enter
or depart.
Among the younger artists of high position and achieved fame in the fine
arts who have aimed to include house decoration within their poetic
domain, the most successful has been Mr. Walter Crane, who is fortunate in
having a firm of skilful paper-stainers (Jeffrey & Co., of Islington) to
embody his beautiful and quaint designs. Mr. Crane’s “Chaucer,” or “La
Margarete,” paper received a special medal and diploma at the Philadelphia
Exhibition, and his more recent designs are not inferior. The “Margarete”
paper, which takes almost any color that is not garish, has become a prime
favorite among the lovers of chaste decoration in London, and the light
olive tint is preferred. The daisy is the motive, taken from Chaucer:
“As she that is of allë floures flour,
 Fulfilled of all virtue and honour,
And ever alike fair and fresh of hue.”
The burden of the daisy-song (in the “Legend of Good Women”)
“Si douce est la Margarete,”

is exquisitely blended with the pattern. The superb frieze shows, on a

background of gold, the youthful God of Love holding Alcestis, the ideal
wife, by the hand; next Diligence, with her spindle; Order, with hour-glass;
Providence, with well-filled basket; and Hospitality, with her jar and
extended cup. These figures support the roof as caryatides. Plants of
alternate leaf and flower, in pots, stand between the figures and beneath the
Chaucerian text: “To whom do ye owe your service? Which will you
honour, tell me, I pray, this yere? The Leaf or the Flower?” In the dado are
the types of purity and innocence—lilies and doves. Mr. Walter Crane’s
services to decorative art are well appreciated by the little folk in some
households, for he has designed papers representing the most fascinating of
Cinderellas and Boy Blues, and as I write is bringing out an apotheosis of
Humpty Dumpty and cognate classicisms. That this artist is ambitious of
canonization among the young is farther suggested by the fact that he has
actually turned his hand to designing valentines, thus tempting staid persons
to indulge in that kind of thing—or, at any rate, to condone it—who have
long eschewed such pinky frivolities. He has designed three or four
valentines only, but they have been endlessly imitated. I must not omit to
mention that a great deal of the best needle-work done in London has been
after Mr. Crane’s designs, and also that he is at present engaged in making
tiles which promise to surpass all other recent designs. These represent
generally each some simple, graceful figure—classic, allegorical, or antique
—with flowers surrounding them; but the charm is in the very pleasing
expression this artist conveys in a few lines by his careful drawing, and also
by his delicate sense of color. Whatever he does, however conventional the
accessories may have to be (and they must often be such with the real artist,
who will never dignify incidents with the same work as his main designs,
any more than he will paint his picture-frame like his canvas), no one
acquainted with his work can ever mistake the touch. When I first saw
Walter Crane’s papers I felt a certain heaviness of heart that one could not
have them all on the walls of some favorite room—all at the same time!
 L. ALMA TADEMA.—[FROM A BUST BY
J. DALOU.]

Perhaps the most complete rendering of the effects at which William

Morris and Burne Jones have aimed in their efforts at beautifying London
households is to be found at Townsend House, to which I have before
alluded. Mr. L. Alma Tadema, the finest colorist, has of course been as one
of the partners of the firm so far as his own home is concerned, and the
touches of his art are met with at every step in it. Passing beneath the
cheery “Salve” written over the front-door, we at once meet with a
significant piece of art. On each side of the rather narrow hall is a door; one
leads into a parlor, the other into a library, and, as they are just opposite
each other, the doors are made to open outward, and, when open, meet.
Now, when it is desirable, the two doors when open make a wall across the
hall; this extemporized wall has its panels painted, and thus a pretty passage
is made to connect the separate rooms. One thing in Townsend House is
very peculiar: the ceilings are generally covered with the same paper as the
walls. There is a dado of matting with touches of color in it, or else painted
in some color related to the paper but of deeper shade, and above this a
uniform paper, with but slight frieze (most of the rooms being
comparatively small, a deep frieze would be out of place). I confess that I
have some misgivings about this continuance upon the ceiling of the wall-
paper. It would certainly answer very well in rooms that were of very high
pitch, for the heavier the color on a ceiling the more it is depressed to the
eye. But here the sense of comfort and snugness secured—important as they
are in this moist, chill climate, which often makes one willing to be folded
up in a warmly lined box—is paid for by a sense of confinement. A ceiling
ought not to be white nor blue, which, not to speak of the quickness with
which they become black from the chandeliers, convey the feeling of
exposure to the open air, but there should be above one a lighter tint and
shade, lest the effect should be that of being in a cellar. The underground
effect nowhere occurs in Townsend House, because therein true artists have
been at work, but one might not be so secure if the papering had been left to
less judicious decorators. The corridors have the creamy pomegranate
paper, which carries a cool light through them. A small back-room on the
first floor has been Orientalized into a charming place by a skilful use of
rugs, skins, etc., on the floor, and on the Persian divans fixed against the
wall, which is covered with a silvery and pinkish paper. The chief bedroom
in the house presents the novelty of walls entirely hung with a rich dark and
reddish chintz, with wide stripes flowing from ceiling to floor, the effect
being a grave Persian. The bed is hung and covered with the same stuff, and
the lower part of each window is made into a cushioned seat of the same.
The ceiling in this case is of a pearl-white, and there is plenty of light. This
room appeared to me, though at first a surprise, one that was suggestive of
every kind of warmth and comfort; it was, indeed, an entire room made into
the appropriate environment of a bed. In another bedroom I observed how
beautifully the light may be regulated by the use of double curtains, one of
dark green, when darkness is desired, the other of a fine tracing-cloth,
which is more snowy than the glass of an astral lamp, while it similarly
softens and diffuses light.
 CANDELABRA, TOWNSEND HOUSE.

Mr. L. Alma Tadema—a fine bust of whom by J. Dalou appeared in the

Royal Academy in 1874—had contributed, as his picture of that season, an
admirable representation of his own studio, with a number of his friends
looking upon a work on his easel, the back of which is turned to the
spectator. But one can readily imagine those friends of his dividing their
attention between the picture and the rich ornamentation of the room they
are in. An artist’s studio is apt to be, and ought to be, as much a picture as
any work of art born in it, but it hardly comes within the scope of this
article to describe rooms that are expressions of individual genius and
purpose; yet in every house where cultivated persons are found individual
aims are found also, and there will be the effort to give to each of these its
fit environment. The first point to be secured in the study, or studio, or
workshop is, that everything in it shall be related to the work which is its
end and raison d’être. When Carlyle was engaged in writing his Life of
Frederick he had prepared a special study apart from his library, whose
walls were covered with books and pictures of which each one, without
exception, was in some way connected with the man of whom he was
writing. They who are not, even for a time, specialists may nevertheless
follow his example so far as to take care not to surround themselves with
distracting objects. That which is beautiful in a studio may be ugly in a
study. The studio of Alma Tadema sympathizes in its minutest object with
the artist, who is so much at home in all the ages of art. Touches of Egypt,
of Pompeii, of Greece, of Rome, blend in the decorations of his studio, as
their influences are felt in his powerful works. And, indeed, throughout
Townsend House there is a beauty derived from the fact that every
ornament is subordinate to the purpose of the room which contains it. The
dining-room, for instance, opens into a beautiful garden; it is, therefore, not
simply an eating-room, but must in some weathers do duty as the salon for
a garden party. The rich dado of matting is especially well placed in such a
room as this, which is large and luminous. It is capped by a chair-board,
which is ingeniously adorned with cockle-shells, and still more at one point
with the first name of the mistress of the house painted in antique golden
letters. Above this there is a cream-colored paper of squares, with roses and
birds, a hanging which I have already spoken of as unpleasant in bedrooms
or sitting-rooms; but in this large dining-room, which opens into a garden,
the effect of it is remarkably fine. The cornice is Easter-eggs (variously and
carefully colored), beneath a higher member of grape and leaf, also colored.
The whole of one end of this room is covered by a rich drapery of fine
Indian dyes, elegantly striped. The servants’ entrance is behind a large
screen of gold leather.
Throughout this beautiful house there are little arrangements for
convenience, always attended by beauty, which are altogether indescribable
—a head or a sprig of ivy painted in some panel, or a little gauze curtain
draping a casual opening. But I must particularly note in the drawing-room
a beautiful capping to the dado. It is a white moulding of the Elgin marble
reliefs, and most beautifully fringes the dark-figured stuff of the dado. I
have already described the fine drapery of this room. I need only now say
that Mr. Alma Tadema has designed some candelabra which appear to me
most beautiful. The reader will, I fear, be but little able to obtain from one
of the drawings an idea of the rich minglings of the bronze with the rose
porcelain egg-shaped centre-piece, and the figures painted upon it. Both of
the candelabra which I have selected as specimens are for rose-colored
candles. In the houses of many artists ancient oratory (suspended)
candelabra are used for the centres of rooms, and also brass repoussé
sconces bracketed with bevelled mirrors. The English upper classes have
never been reconciled to the use of gasaliers in their drawing-rooms, and
the artists have pretty generally opposed the use of gas, which is believed to
be damaging to oil-pictures.
In concluding this account of the most interesting examples of
decorative art with which I am acquainted in England, I add, in preference
to any general observations of my own, a few extracts from very high
authorities, affirming principles whose truth seems to me to be illustrated by
every exterior, and interior to which I have referred. The first of these
quotations is the placarded principles of decorative art hung up in the
school at South Kensington:
I.
1. The decorative arts arise from, and should properly be attendant upon, architecture.
2. Architecture should be the material expression of the wants, the faculties, and the
sentiments of the age in which it is created. 3. Style in architecture is the peculiar form that
expression takes under the influence of climate and the materials at command.
II.
Metal-works, Pottery, and Plastic Forms Generally.—1. The form should be
most carefully adapted to use, being studied for elegance and beauty of line as well as for
capacity, strength, mobility, etc. 2. In ornamenting the construction care should be taken to
preserve the general form, and to keep the decoration subservient to it by the low relief or
otherwise; the ornament should be so arranged as to enhance by its lines the symmetry of
the original form, and assist its constructive strength. 3. If arabesques or figures in the
round are used, they should arise out of the ornamental and constructive forms, and not be
merely applied. 4. All projecting parts should have careful consideration, to render them as
little liable to injury as is consistent with their purpose. 5. It must ever be remembered that
repose is required to give value to ornament, which in itself is secondary and not principal.
III.
Carpets.—1. The surface of a carpet, serving as a ground to support all objects, should
be quiet and negative, without strong contrast of either forms or colors. 2. The leading
forms should be so disposed as to distribute the pattern over the whole floor, not
pronounced either in the direction of breadth or length, all “up-and-down” treatments being
erroneous. 3. The decorative forms should be flat, without shadow or relief, whether
derived from ornament or direct from flowers or foliage. 4. In color the general ground
should be negative, low in tone, and inclining to the tertiary hues, the leading forms of the
pattern being expressed by the darker secondaries; and the primary colors, or white, if used
at all, should be only in small quantity, to enhance the tertiary hues and to express the
geometrical basis that rules the distribution of the forms.
IV.
Printed Garment Fabrics, Muslins, Calicoes, etc.—1. The ornament should be flat,
without shadow and relief. 2. If flowers, foliage, or other natural objects are the motive,
they should not be direct imitations of nature, but conventionalized in obedience to the
above rule. 3. The ornament should cover the surface either by a diaper based on some
regular geometrical figure, or growing out of itself by graceful flowing curves; any
arrangement that carries lines or pronounces figures in the direction of breadth is to be
avoided, and the effect produced by the folding of the stuff should be carefully studied. 4.
The size of the pattern should be regulated by the material for which it is intended: small
for close, thick fabrics, such as ginghams, etc.; larger for fabrics of more open textures,
such as muslins, baréges, etc.; largely covering the ground on delaines, and more dispersed
on cotton linens.

In all the beautiful effects which I have observed the ornamentation has
been in more or less accordance with the fundamental principle of these
rules—namely, the subordination of decoration to use. Many persons of
taste and culture have had to wage a sometimes unequal conflict with
architecture whose object was a low one—to sell; but they have been
rewarded just in the proportion that they have regarded the principles just
quoted. It will be especially observed that realism, in the sense of exact
imitations of nature, is entirely repudiated. Conventionalism, precisely
because it is a degradation in human character, is a first necessity in
ornamentation. The rationale of this is admirably given in a little book on
the Oxford Museum, by Dr. Acland and Mr. Ruskin, not likely to have been
seen by many American readers. The following remarks by Mr. Ruskin,
taken from it, constitute my second extract:
“The highest art in all kinds is that which conveys the most truth, and the best
ornamentation possible would be the painting of interior walls with frescoes by Titian,
representing perfect humanity in color, and the sculpture of exterior walls by Phidias,
representing perfect humanity in form. Titian and Phidias are precisely alike in their
conception and treatment of nature—everlasting standards of the right. Beneath
ornamentation such as men like these could bestow falls in various rank, according to its
subordination to vulgar uses or inferior places, what is commonly conceived as ornamental
art. The lower its office and the less tractable its material, the less of nature it should
contain, until a zigzag becomes the best ornament for the hem of a robe, and a mosaic of
colored glass the best design for a colored window. But all these forms of lower art are to
be conventional only because they are subordinate; not because conventionalism is in itself
a good or desirable thing. All right conventionalism is a wise acceptance of, and
compliance with, conditions of restraint or inferiority. It may be inferiority of our
knowledge or power, as in the art of a semi-savage nation, or restraint by reason of
material, as in the way the glass-painter should restrict himself to transparent hue, and a
sculptor deny himself the eyelash and the film of flowing hair which he cannot cut in
marble. But in all cases whatever right conventionalism is either a wise acceptance of an
inferior place, or a noble display of power under accepted limitation; it is not an
improvement of natural form into something better or purer than Nature herself.
“Now, this great and most precious principle may be compromised in two quite
opposite ways. It is compromised on one side when men suppose that the degradation of
the natural form, which fits it for some subordinate place, is an improvement of it, and that
a black profile on a red ground, because it is proper for a water-jug, is therefore an
idealization of humanity, and nobler art than a picture by Titian. And it is compromised
equally gravely on the opposite side when men refuse to submit to the limitation of
material and the fitnesses of office, when they try to produce finished pictures in colored
glass, or substitute the inconsiderate imitation of natural objects for the perfectness of
adapted and disciplined design.”

I was much struck on a recent occasion with an illustration of how little

the principles thus explained by Mr. Ruskin are understood even among the
learned. It was at the Anthropological Society, where archæologists,
antiquarians, metallurgists, and experts of various kinds were examining a
collection of specimens of the gold-work of the Ashantees. One of the
leading authorities present gave it as his opinion that the specimens, though
of a fineness which English workmanship could not rival, nevertheless
represented a degradation of art and of civilization among the Ashantees;
and the reason assigned was, that the ornamentation indicated that an
original imitation of forms—some natural, others of European design—had
been departed from till the significance of the forms had been lost. Of
course the argument really proved a progress in art among the Ashantees,
and a fine perception of the laws that must govern all work upon gold. But
it is of great importance that no one should confuse conventionalism in the
decorative flower or other form with conventionalism in the use of them in
any house or on any object. The houses of the millions are, indeed,
conventionally decorated now, and they are ugly; the individual taste will
convert the commonplace forms and colors into individual expression, as
his soul has previously transmuted the commonplace clay into a
physiognomy like and unlike all others.
But it were a serious error to suppose that the words “conventional,”
“heraldic,” “decorative,” etc., employed to express those ornamental forms
which are derived without being copied from nature, really express the
significance of those forms. They do represent the spirit of nature. In the
extract with which I conclude, the growth of such flowers and forms in a
fairer field is most subtly described. It is from the best existing work on the
genesis and evolution of the decorative arts, Mr. Scott’s History and
Practice of the Fine and Ornamental Arts, now used as a manual and
official prize-book at the South Kensington School of Design:
“Taste is that faculty by which we distinguish whatever is graceful, noble, just, and
lovable in the infinitely varied appearances about us, and in the works of the decorative and
imitative arts. The immediate impulse in the presence of beauty is to feel and admire.
When the emotion and the sentiment are strong we are compelled to imitate. We cannot
make ourselves more beautiful physically than Providence has decreed, but we wish to see
again, to feel again, what caused in us so vivid a pleasure; and we attempt to revive the
image that charmed us, to re-create those parts or qualities in the image that we found
admirable, with or without those other parts or qualities which did not touch us, but which
were necessary to its existence in a conditional and transitory life. Hence a work original
and peculiar to man—a work of art.”

VIEW FROM A BALCONY.

 BEDFORD PARK.

F IVE years ago I happened to pass through Chiswick, near London, and
paused near a field where Prince Rupert and his little army camped
overnight, on their retreat before Hampden and his Roundheads—a
scene which the perspective of time has made into an allegorical tableau of
Aristocracy retreating before Yeomanry. (It is a retreat that steadily goes on
still.) At that time I found it pleasant to see large and beautiful gardens, with
stately poplars and every variety of fruit-tree, glorifying the acres once
steeped with the bluest blood of England. Eight hundred Cavaliers were
here found dead when the Roundheads came in the early morning, glowing
with victory, to pitch their tents where the Cavaliers had just folded theirs.
Last year I turned in to take another look at the same place. I paused again
near the Rupert House—surely a very civil-seeming home for the barbaric
prince whose name was twisted into “Prince Robber.” Two lions couch
above the projecting door-way, two child-figures stand on the ground
beneath, which may be emblems of that ferocity for which the prince was
famed beyond all warriors of his time, until he fell in love with the pretty
actress under whose sway he became gentle as a child.
I meant to enter on the grass-covered Roman Road along which the
prince retreated some seventeen centuries after the Romans made it. Here
Roman coins and bits of ancient tile have been found, are still occasionally
found. At any rate, it is well enough to keep one’s eyes sharp upon the
ground for a few hundred yards. But first another good look at the beautiful
gardens which cover the camp of the Cavaliers—gardens planned and
planted by Lindley, the famous horticulturist and botanist, father of the
present Mr. Justice Lindley.
Angels and ministers of grace! am I dreaming? Right before me is the
apparition of a little red town made up of quaintest Queen Anne houses. It is
visible through the railway arch, as it might be a lunette picture projected
upon a landscape. Surely my eyes are cheating me; they must have been
gathering impressions of by-gone architecture along the riverside Malls,
and are now turning them to visions, and building them by ideal mirage into
this dream of old-time homesteads!
 I was almost afraid to rub my eyes, lest the antique townlet should
vanish, and crept softly along, as one expecting to surprise fairies in their
retreat. But when across the Common a Metropolitan train came
thundering, and the buildings did not disappear, I began to feel that they
were fabrics not quite baseless. That they should be real seemed even
stranger than that they should be fantasies. The old trees still stood, the
poplars waved their green streamers in the summer breeze, the huge
willows branched out on every side; but the turnips and pumpkins they once
overhung had become æsthetic houses, and amid the flowers and fruit-trees
rosy children at play had taken the place of grimy laborers. I passed beneath
a medlar—who ever before heard of a medlar-tree out on a sidewalk?—on
through a wide avenue of houses that differed from each other
sympathetically, in pleasing competition as to which could be prettiest.
Their gables sometimes fronting the street, their door-ways adorned with
varied touches of taste, the windows surrounded with tinted glass, the
lattices thrown open, and many comely young faces under dainty caps
visible here and there, altogether impressed me with a sense of being in
some enchanted land. After turning into several streets of this character, and
strolling into several houses not yet inhabited, watching the decorators
silently engaged upon their work, I recognized that this was the veritable
land of the lotus-eaters, where they who arrive may sit them down and say,
“We will return no more.”
My summer ramble ended in a conviction that Bedford Park was an
adequate answer to Mr. Mallock’s question, “Is life worth living?” If lived
at Bedford Park, decidedly yes! In one year’s time an architectural design
adapted to our taste and needs stood finished in brick, amid trees planted by
Lindley; the last convenience was completed, the ornamentation added; and
therein I now sit to write this little sketch of the prettiest and pleasantest
townlet in England, while my neighbor Mr. Nash is out on the balcony
sketching the trees and houses that wave and smile through my study
windows. For those who dwell here the world is divided into two great
classes—those who live at Bedford Park, and those who do not.
Nevertheless, we of the first class are not so far removed from those of the
second as not to feel for them, and to help them as well as we can to see our
village, so far as it can be put on paper in white and black. It is with that
compassionate feeling that Mr. Nash with his pencil and I with my pen have
prepared some account and illustration of what has been done toward
building a Utopia in brick and paint in the suburbs of London.
For a long time cultured taste in London for persons of moderate means
had been able to express itself only on paper. Any deviation from the
normal style could be achieved only by the wealthy. The Dutch have the
proverb, “Nothing is cheaper than paint,” but the Dutch might have
discovered their mistake had they lived in London within recent years, and
ventured to desire any variation from the conventional decoration of houses.
Even twenty years ago the artistically decorated (modern) houses in this
vast metropolis might almost be counted on one’s fingers and toes, and they
were the houses of millionnaires or of artists. The artists could do much of
the work themselves, and the millionnaires could command special labors.
But meanwhile the people who most desired beautiful homes were those of
the younger generation whom the new culture had educated above the mere
pursuit of riches, at the same time awakening in them refined tastes which
only through riches could obtain their satisfaction. However, London is a
vast place. One of the best things about it is that nearly every head, however
ingeniously constructed, can find a circle of other heads to which it is
related. The demand of a few expanded until its supply was at hand.
Jonathan Carr, member of a family to which much of this kind of artistic
activity in London is due, had become the proprietor of a hundred acres of
land out here at Chiswick. It was land on which art had already been at
work; a considerable part of it had been the home garden of Bedford House,
where, as already said, Lindley had resided. Around the large garden were
orchards and green fields. Mr. Carr believed that his land might fairly be
made the site of a number of picturesque houses, both as to architecture and
decoration, such as many of his acquaintances were longing for; he believed
that if a considerable number of persons should contract for such houses,
that kind of work which has been costly because exceptional might be much
reduced; he believed also that there were architects and decorators who, out
of materials sufficiently alike to be secured in large quantities, could
produce a rich variety of combinations, so that a maximum of individual
taste might be expressed at a minimum of cost. Mr. Carr consulted Norman
Shaw on the matter; that architect encouraged the project, and agreed to
devote himself personally to it. And I may say here that the speedy success
of the scheme was largely due to the well-known characters of the landlord
and the architect. Their enthusiasm for art, their liberality and honor,
excluded all suspicion that the scheme was a money-making bubble; the
slow-growing plant of confidence was already grown in their case for the
kind of people who really wanted these houses. In the course of little more
than five years three hundred and fifty houses have been erected. They are
embowered amid trees, and surrounded by orchards; their generous gardens
are well stocked with trees, flowers, and fruits, so that these houses appear
as if they had been here for generations. No one could imagine that seven
years ago they were all little sketches on paper, passing between landlord,
architect, and house-hunters; and indeed my friend Abbey, the artist, who
has visited us occasionally, says he cannot yet get it out of his head that he
is walking through a water-color.
The first consideration is health. Bedford Park is naturally healthy. It is
situated upon a gravel-bed, remote from the fogs of London, and with easy
access to the river for its drains. Kensington is but twelve minutes nearer
the centre of London than Bedford Park, yet at Kensington few afternoons
between October and February can be passed without gas-light, whereas
here there were only four or five occasions last fall and winter when the
lights were required before evening. There are beautiful walks around, and
in ten minutes by train we reach Kew Gardens. The Chiswick Horticultural
Gardens are under ten minutes’ walk. Near these is the long avenue,
overarched by trees, the Duke’s Walk; it leads to famous Chiswick House,
whose sixty acres of ornamental wooded ground is the most beautiful
private park in the suburbs of London, to say nothing of the charms of
romance investing the old Italian villa where statesmen consulted the fair
Duchess of Devonshire. There is thus no lack of breathing space. The
houses are built with fourteen-inch brick walls, and without cellars. It is in
conformity with what has been decided to be the prudent plan in London
that underground rooms are unknown here, each house being founded on a
solid bed of concrete, the floors raised sufficiently high above this to allow
of full and free ventilation beneath every house.
 DINING-ROOM IN TOWER HOUSE.

Sanitary considerations are not neglected in the decorations. Matting is

used in the lining of halls and staircases; it is easy to keep clean, and does
not gather or send forth dust every time a door is opened, as is often the
case with paper. Tiles are also much employed, which are also easy to keep
clean; and although stained glass is used, it is as a decorative casement, and
is not allowed to impede the light, which can never be spared in England.
What at once impresses the intelligent visitor to Bedford Park is the fact
that the beauty which has been admittedly secured is not fictitious. A
competent writer in the Sporting and Dramatic News (September 27th,
1879), speaks very truly of this feature of the new village: “We have here
no unchangeable cast-iron work, but hand-wrought wooden balustrades and
palings; no great sheets of plate-glass, but small panes set in frames of
wood which look strong and solid, although, the windows being large, they
supply ample illumination for the spacious rooms within. There is no
attempt to conceal with false fronts, or stucco ornament, or unmeaning
balustrades, that which is full of comfortable suggestiveness in a climate
like our own—the house roof; everything is simple, honest, unpretending.
Within, no clumsy imitations of one wood to conceal another, but a
preserving surface of beautifully flatted paint, made handsome by judicious
arrangements of color. Here brick is openly brick, and wood is openly
wood, and paint is openly paint. Nothing comes in a mean, sneaking way,
pretending to be that which it is not. Varnish is unknown. There is an old-
world air about the place despite its newness, a strong touch of Dutch
homeliness, with an air of English comfort and luxuriousness, but not a bit
of the showy, artificial French stuffs which prevailed in our homes when
Queen Anne was on the throne, when we imported our furniture from
France, and believed in nothing which was not French.”
Those who purchase or lease houses at Bedford Park are allowed the
choice where their wall-papers shall be purchased, what designs shall be
selected, and what colors shall be used on the wood-work. A certain amount
is allotted for the decoration of the drawing-room, dining-room, and so on,
and the occupants are invited to select up to that sum freely; or, if they
fancy some costlier paper or decoration, the excess of price is added. As a
matter of fact, a majority of the residents have used the wall-papers and
designs of Morris, the draught on whose decorative works has become so
serious that a branch of the Bloomsbury establishment will probably
become necessary in the vicinity of Bedford Park. This natural selection of
the Morris designs by so many families, independently of each other, could
hardly have occurred a few years ago, or, if it had occurred, would have
been a misfortune of monotony; but recently these designs have been
sufficiently varied, and the new patterns, which may be had in divers colors
and shades, are now so numerous that it is quite possible for all to be
satisfied without a calamitous sameness. And this result is largely due to the
excellent taste and ingenuity of the founder of the village, who is pretty
certain to give those arranging the interiors of their houses the best advice,
not unfrequently guiding them about the place, to see the effect of certain
papers already on walls, and showing how by new combinations of dado-
paper and wall-paper, or distemper, repetitions of neighboring decorations
may be avoided. The besetting sin of the new decoration—monotony—is
thus measurably escaped.
 QUEEN ANNE’S GARDENS.

The best standards, indeed, Mr. Carr is generally able to show in his own
house. His taste and that of his wife have made their house beautiful. It
would be difficult to find a prettier room than the dining-room, which our
artist has drawn with care; but much of its beauty depends upon the soft
colors and tints of its walls and its genuinely old furniture. This house,
known as the Tower House, is as elegant, comfortable, and charming as
need be desired even by those whose home is the seat of a continuous and
liberal hospitality. The hall, landings, and rooms are all spacious and well
proportioned; yet the entire building, arrangements, and decorations have
probably not cost four thousand pounds.
In Mr. Nash’s sketch of “Queen Anne’s Gardens” the observer may see
some characteristic features of the place, such as the venerable air of our
trees, and the relation of our streets to the old characters traced upon the soil
by the gardens which preceded these. It is said some of the streets of
Boston, Massachusetts, followed the old sheep-paths; and it may now be
entered in the archives of Bedford Park, against its becoming a city, that its
streets and gardens have been largely decided by Dr. Lindley’s trees. Some
of them curve to make way for the lofty patriarchs of the estate, which we
hope may long wave over us. There has been an accompanying good result,
that wherever the eye looks it meets something beautiful.
 CO-OPERATIVE STORES AND TABARD INN.

TOWER HOUSE AND LAWN-TENNIS GROUNDS.

One of our views is slightly utilitarian. It is taken from the old Roman
Road, and from the Co-operative Stores in the foreground commands the
railway, on which trains bear us to the heart of London in thirty minutes.
Indeed, one can start from our little station for a voyage round the world, so
many are the junctions to be reached from it. The portico of the church is
visible on the right in this picture, and in the distance the steeple of
Turnham Green parish church. Beside the Co-operative Stores stands the
one inn of Bedford Park. It is a part of the contract of each lessee that he
shall not allow any public-house (or drinking-house) to be opened on his
premises, nor allow any trade to be carried on upon the same. Yet there is
need of an inn, that families may come to experiment on the place, and
where lodgings may be obtained when houses are overfull of guests,
Bedford Park being much given to hospitality. The inn is called “The
Tabard.” That was the name of the old inn in the Borough, near London
Bridge, from which Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims started. The excellent
artist, Mr. Rookh, whom Bedford Park is fortunate enough to have as a
resident, has painted a beautiful sign for our “Tabard,” representing much
the same scene as our picture on one side, and on the other an old-time
herald habited in a tabard.
Another of Mr. Nash’s views shows our tennis lawn and Badminton
floor (asphalt), which are pretty generally the scene of merry games. These
beautiful grounds are at the west end of Tower House (seen on the left), and
contain beautiful trees, among others the first Wellingtonia (as the English
insist on naming that American institution) planted in England.

READING AND BILLIARD ROOM, CLUB-HOUSE.

The Club is the social heart of Bedford Park, and it is speaking

moderately to say it is as pure a sample of civilization as any on this planet.
After claiming that, my reader need hardly be informed that in it ladies and
gentlemen are on a perfect equality. Whatever distinctions are made are
such as instinct and taste suggest. The ladies did not enter the billiard-room,
possibly fearing that they might put too much restraint upon gentlemen who
not only smoke, but sometimes like to take their coats off at the game; so
there has been added a ladies’ billiard-room, exquisitely panelled and
papered. The wainscot is of oak which was once in a church of London City
built by Sir Christopher Wren: the wood was so sound, after all those years,
as to “bleed” when sawed for this room. Above this panelling there is a soft
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