Jonathan and I had to miss Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars day on May 4th (for like, the third year in a row) this time because we were shooting a wedding in Madera, California with our part time business, Retrospective Imagery Photography.
This was our last wedding for the year, since we have to wrap up business, not knowing where we’ll be with the Navy and all. And while I was snapping these photos, I got to reflecting on the tone and imagery of the business we have attempted to craft over the past two years. First off, we did not expect our business name to be such a confusing issue with clients. “What does ‘retrospective’ mean?” “How do you spell that?” “Retro-what imagery?” While we’re personally smitten with the business name, we’ve decided that when we relocate, we’ll also rename our business. And I have no idea what our new name will be. We’re literally back to square one.
The whole idea behind our photography business being titled “Retrospective Imagery”, was to convey that we’d embrace the feel and imagery of past eras of photography in the here and now, using slight undertones of faux-vintage effects on our photos to best highlight the present in a beautiful juxtaposition.
We hoped to create a kind of nostalgia for the present in our work.
Because when you think about it, our present – especially in regards to events you hire a photographer for – are really a potentially documented past.
Photo of a centerpiece at the Madera, CA wedding. Original image and repurposed image.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that every single image must be drenched in a Daguerreotype Instagram-ish haze, but the soft, ageless imagery of the dawn of photography hints at a timelessness that I don’t think is a passing fad. I know I’m far from the only photographer antiquing up her clients pictures (although I am one of the only photographers I know of who gives both edited and unedited photos on a copyright free disc), but it kind of saddens me that I have to part ways with “Retrospective Imagery”. No one “gets it”, and every other name I can think of to best convey my style and philosophy is already taken.
I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open for some inspiration name-wise. While it’s daunting, it’s also slightly liberating to think of all the fresh starts coming our way this year – a new job, a new home, a new family member, a new business name. It’s exciting to think of what God has in store for us.
How about Future Vintage Imagery (or Photography). 😉 *L*
You know, I’m still working on a new name.. lol