A photo project that's close to home...
Never in a million years would I have thought that I would take part in a home renovation.
But, when your parents pass on and leave the house to you and your brother, all of a sudden, you become a homeowner just like that.
Since this house was built for a different generation (ie. it’s grossly outdated), we have our work cut for us to turn this place into a rental property.
As part of the process, I want to document every phrase of the renovation, not just because I’m a photo nerd who loves to take pictures, but also because this house has deep, emotional significance to me since I grew up in it.
And there’s a lot of memories embedded in these walls.
Recently, we dove into PHASE 1 - demo the first floor.
Now, I’ve seen how professional contractors and real estate professionals stage photos to help promote their services, and there’s a way in which to do it.
But, I’m not in that world, so I ignored what everyone else does, and instead, captured the transformation process in the same way that I capture photos of my clients.
With as much visual variety as possible.
Wide establishing shots of each room.
Medium shots that provide added context.
And a mountain of close-ups that highlight the details of the space that have emotional significance to us.
The plan was to capture the space, as is, before we picked up a hammer and pry bar, and then, snap some photos after the debris was removed.
Pretty simple and straight-forward.
What I failed to take into account was the fact that this process had an emotional effect on me. This space, the one I spent many years living in, will never be the same ever again.
Yes, the wood paneling was ugly. Yes, the wallpaper was 7000 years old and in bad shape. Yes, you could tell the trim around the doorways was painted 47 times.
But, that was my home - warts and all.
I almost lost it as I took out the last tile in the drop ceiling of my childhood bedroom. But, between sharing this experience - and workload - with family, and visually documenting the experience through photos, I found it to be quite cathartic, overall.
I look forward to sharing the finished product with you when it’s all said and done :)