How We Transform Tucked-Away Heirlooms into Fine Art for Our Books—and Our Clients’ Walls
Who inherits the collection of love letters? The grandfather’s Medal of Honor? The box of vintage summer camp keepsakes?
We hear this dilemma often: there is only one physical artifact, but multiple children, siblings, or grandkids who cherish the memory. These are the same items that usually end up tucked away in the attic or under the bed—kept safe, but also hidden from daily life.
At Housecraft Books, we make books, yes, but we are also in the business of preserving and celebrating tactile memories. Our book projects are history projects first. And before we make the book, we have to capture the artifacts. Whether this is in-house with our interiors photographer or in the photography studio, we can help turn your family’s treasured items into works of art.
Capturing the Details
To honor a family heirloom, you have to capture it all: texture, dimension, patina. That is where our artifact photographer, Ian Johns, comes in. With his dedicated keepsake photography setup in the studio, we are able to capture and celebrate these beloved objects.
A recent photo shoot included a collection of summer camp items, including a 1950s-era bathing suit. The photograph captured the pink satin suit perfectly: the delicate mid-century tailoring paired with YMCA swimming badges sewn onto the fabric, marking the owner’s swimming prowess.
Alongside the swimsuit, Ian photographed a camp coupon book, a crumpled candlelight songsheet with drips of melted wax, and a fuzzy felt patch with an incredible texture. These photos will be included in a history book, but our clients liked them so much, they also now hang on the walls of the camp’s lodge.
For another project, we photographed five decades of vintage road race t-shirts. These soft, well-worn shirts represented years of Fourth of July traditions, personal records, and many miles run. Those tees made it onto the pages of an anniversary book, but it didn’t stop there. We also made framed artwork, using the t-shirts to highlight particularly significant years for the recipients.
With the keepsake art we create with Ian, a single heirloom can be shared with the whole family. Archival prints go onto living room and office walls, slideshows are built for family reunions, and the keepsake—and its story—can live permanently inside a custom, hand-bound volume.
In a full-circle moment, once the book itself is complete, Ian steps back in to photograph the finished volumes for us at Housecraft Books—documenting them as the tangible, lasting treasures they have become.
