ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
If you’ve ever wondered what to do with that box or two of unlabeled family photos tucked away in your closet, you can empathize with John Baize and Sarah Bennett. The father-daughter pair, owners of Designer Images Photography in Hillsboro, have closets at their studio nearly filled with unlabeled family pictures spanning 30 years.
And none of the families are their own.
But Baize and Bennett, unlike most of the rest of us, have devised a plan to put their burgeoning photo collection to good use.
They’re calling the plan “Raid the Vault.” Throughout February, they are opening the collection to former clients, the families and friends of former clients and pretty much anyone else who might be curious.
“It’s going to be kind of a scavenger hunt for people to come in and look around,” Baize said. “We’re selling (the prints) at drastically reduced prices, so they can find some real bargains here.”
Baize estimated the number of stored photos only as “hundreds.”
“We’ve pulled out all the pictures we had gotten from almost 30 years of the studio being in existence,” he said.
“Not everybody who comes through is going to have a picture here, but for a lot of people it might be interesting to see if they can find pictures of family, friends or themselves that were taken years ago-and some not so long ago.”
“We’d rather have the family members enjoying the portraits than have them hidden away in the closet,” Bennett added.
The photos come in a variety of sizes, ranging from wallet-size to “humongous,” according to Baize. They can be purchased for 50 to 75 percent below their original selling price.
In addition to the discounts, Baize and Bennett are offering another incentive to draw in the curious: Anyone who can identify someone from a portrait more than 10 years old will receive a free design session and 5×7 photo.
Baize and Bennett purchased the studio in 2005 from its founder, Don Ratzlaff, and so do not know many of the studio’s past clientele.
“We’re kind of interested in trying to identify them,” Baize said.
Baize said he got the idea for “Raid the Vault” from National Public Radio.
“I heard a story on NPR about a person who bought a studio and made it into a restaurant,” he said. “They had all the pictures that had been done for years and years, and put them on the walls of the restaurant.
“It was fascinating to hear of people coming in and looking at pictures that had been taken of themselves, and pointing out different people they had known years ago.”
For clients who came in for multiple photo portraits through the past 30 years, the Designer Images collection provides a certain historical record, Baize said.
“This is a little different kind of history-it’s the history of people having their picture taken,” he said. “There was an article done, I think, in Psychology Today about people who had had their picture taken over a long period of time, and then seeing the transition from being a child to becoming a young adult, to middle age to now being a senior citizen.
“We don’t necessarily have a picture from every juncture of their lives, but we do have people who’ve had their picture taken several times.”
In addition to personal portraits, the collection also includes photos of area scenery.
Anyone interested in looking at the collection can stop by the studio at 105 S. Ash during regular business hours.
Baize and Bennett said they have no regrets about purchasing the studio. With some 3,000 square feet of shooting space, plus a back lot, Baize said it is one of the largest studios in central Kansas.
The new owners have continued the tradition of portrait work for traditional events such as graduating seniors, families and weddings, but also do commercial work as well.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge because Don’s shoes were pretty big to fill,” Baize said. “But we’ve had some gratifying experiences, and I’m glad we made the leap.”
