I simply love these classic children’s portraits. There are several names or descriptors for them — heirloom portraits, vignettes, traditional… But I like “classic portraits” because they’re timeless. Styles and fads change, but these focus on the child’s face, capturing all the details and features at a particular age, their expression and the light in their eyes. It’s all about the child, not the setting or other figures in the frame.

These portraits show how the years I lived in North Carolina influenced me. I admired the Southern hospitality and customs. I learned that you can be progressive while still valuing traditions, and that also applies to art — you can push yourself creatively, but still love the classics. When studying art history at Wake Forest Univ., we’d look at historic American art at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, then go across the street to the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

Anyways, here are some portraits from two sessions, and you can see how I’ve updated the classics to offer both vignettes and full frame portraits, color and black & white… my twists on the classics!

Kate Gelatt