Generational Portraits: Don’t Forget the Grandparents!

What are Generational Portraits?

Generational portraits are simply portraits that include people in multiple generations: child, parents, grandparents, (and if you’re really lucky!) great-grandparents. Even extended family can be included.  

They reflect the bond shared among family members and the unique features of our family in one frame – a bond felt with the heart. They can capture the genetic attributes passed down through our family (Papa’s nose, Dad’s blue eyes, Nana’s smile, etc.) and the personality traits that we share.

These photographs can evoke emotions that words simply cannot. They become an invaluable part of our family’s history and become more precious to us as time goes on. Portraits of our ancestors help us to understand the stories of the people who came before us and where we come from.

Why are Multi-Generation Portraits Important?

To put it frankly, our grandparents and great-grandparents won’t be in our daily lives forever. Someday, all we will have left of them are the memories that we shared together. These memories are priceless and deserving of celebration and documentation.

If you’ve read my About Me page, you’ll know that I come from a family of (informal) genealogists and historians . . . people who have spent many hours researching and putting together the pieces of our family’s history. The visual storytelling that unfolds through the creation of generational portraits provides a timeline of our extended family, which is so meaningful to future generations.

I was blessed to grow up with four grandparents. My children have four grandparents (and two bonus grandparents!) and had a close relationship with two of their great-grandparents who lived into their mid-nineties. We are so lucky to have had these relationships in our family: these generations have so much wisdom and experience to share with us. 

Let’s face it – the relationship kids have with their grandparents is vastly different than the one they share with their parents. Grandparents are usually way more fun and enjoy bending all the rules: staying up past bedtime, eating ice cream for breakfast, playing games, buying toys (or puppies or ponies 🙄). 

How do we Capture Generational Portraits?

It used to be that people didn’t move far from where they grew up. People lived close to their extended families and spent much more time with them than we do now. In this generation, families are spread out and some don’t get to spend much time together at all – maybe only during special occasions like weddings or family reunions. 

Generational portraits are not nearly as common as they once were, so we must be intentional in capturing them. It doesn’t have to be a manufactured event, rather we must be attuned to moments that will make for cherished memories. What activities do your kids enjoy doing with their grandparents or great-grandparents?

• reading a book
• baking cookies/cake/cupcakes
• working in the garden
• flying a kite
• playing cards or a board game
• having a tea party
• making a craft

These photographs will forever hold a special place in my heart. My grandmother was an expert baker and was known for her jelly-filled cookies. She had them at every single visit and even sent them to me in college. They are HER. The day she taught my daughters how to make them is one I will never forget. In these images, I can hear the metal of the sieve clinking against her rings as the sprinkled them with sugar, I can feel the stickiness of the jelly on the spoon, I can smell the warm vanilla baking in the oven, I can taste the cookies that evoke so much care and love. 

It may not have felt important at the time to take these pictures, but years later these photographs bring me so much joy. I love that my children had the opportunity to take part in the cookie-baking tradition that was handed down for decades. I love seeing their chubby little fingers next to her hard-working hands. I love that tiny little kitchen (with their artwork proudly displayed on her refrigerator) where I spent my very last visit with her just weeks before she passed away.

It’s your job to capture the everyday moments so that you can enjoy them for years to come. Looking for a bit more and want a beautiful album or framed art that you can cherish of your extended family every day? I can help you – let’s chat about creating a stunning generational portrait just for your family!