212 ☼ The Evidence of Living
How to Photograph a Home with Soul
Dear friends,
A few weeks ago I spent an afternoon documenting the beautiful, lived-in interiors of the home of my friend and collaborator Perzia. Not for real estate. Not for “content.” Just for her to remember the energy, feeling, and magic of a place she’s about to leave behind.
In this issue: images from that day, plus three tips for photographing a home in a way that best reflects the person who lives there.
Upcoming Photo Walks
RSVPs are now open for the next two Process Photo Walks:
📍 Vienna — October 18
[Info + RSVP here] with our friends at Lomography, who are bringing free rolls of film!
📍 Paris — November 16 (during Paris Photo)
[Info + RSVP here] With Hotshoe Magazine, bringing free copies of their magazine!
We’ll walk, talk, shoot, and hang out for a drink afterwards. Thanks to MPB.com’s support these walks are completely free.
What Makes A House A Home?
We didn’t clean up. We didn’t stage anything.
Perzia is someone who cares deeply about her spaces. She had transformed an empty apartment into something very special. Not only for herself, but for others too. Her home flowed naturally between different states, while breathing creativity, inspiration, and calm.
When it was just Perzia in her space, it became a warm, comfortable home and creative studio. When she invited others over, it could be anything from a simple photo studio to a gathering place for women seeking communion. She hosted events, styled shoots, and made everyone feel at home in her home.
When she recently learned it was time for a new adventure, we knew we had to document the space before she started packing it up. As a memory of what it looked like and how it felt.
We wandered the rooms together, barefoot, with no plan. We started in the living room, took a detour to the hallway for a quiet portrait with a piece of fruit, then found ourselves photographing a single book for fifteen minutes.
Meaningful objects, handmade items, small rituals, living things. We celebrated it all. The shoot was about the space, and seeing Perzia in it.
There was a set of handmade dice. A purse she designed. A favorite blanket. We moved from calm to silly to dramatic, the way you do when you’re truly at home.
The soul of a space isn’t in the layout or the square footage. It’s in the energy. It’s in the way a book falls open to a well-loved page, or how afternoon light finds its way through a particular window. It’s in the little clusters of objects that tell you what someone values, even when they don’t say it out loud.
Perzia didn’t want to wait until everything was packed up and gone to remember this place. She wanted to mark this space while it was still alive with her presence, still humming with her daily rituals and dreams.
How to Photograph a Home with Soul
Here are three ways to capture not just what a space looks like, but how it feels to live there:
Follow the light, follow the life
Instead of starting with room layouts, begin where the light naturally draws you. Notice where your friend gravitates. Their reading corner, the kitchen counter where mail piles up, the windowsill garden. These lit spaces hold the real stories. Photograph the interplay between natural light and the objects it touches throughout the day.
Capture the evidence of living
Don’t tidy up the coffee mug with the lipstick stain or move the stack of books from the floor. These details are biographical. Look for the things that show how someone actually moves through their space: a jacket resting on a chair, plants leaning into the sunlight, the worn spot on the sofa. These imperfections are what make a house feel like a home.
Include their hands in the frame
Ask your subject to interact naturally with their space while you photograph. Have them make tea, arrange flowers, or simply touch objects that matter to them. Hands tell stories, and show care, use, and connection. Some of the most powerful home portraits include the gentle gesture of someone engaging with their own environment, making the invisible relationship between person and place suddenly visible.
Is there someone you care about who would enjoy this issue? Do me a favor and share it with them. It helps get Process in front of more people who’d like to tell stories well.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading.
If you’re near Vienna (Oct 18) or Paris (Nov 16), I’d love to see you at the upcoming Process Photo Walks. Bring a camera, a friend, or just yourself. No pressure, no performance, just a chance to connect and make a few pictures together.
Talk soon,
Wesley
📷 What I Used This Week
People often ask what I’m using and here’s this week’s setup:
Camera: Canon EOS R5 + Canon RF 24-70 mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens.
This issue is supported by MPB.com, which is my personal go-to for buying, selling, or trading used gear. Everything comes with a 12-month warranty.
This issue is also supported by picdrop.com, which my preferred tool for building online galleries to let my clients review, select, and download photos from shoots. Use “PROCESS” at checkout to get a free 2-month trial.
Lab: My film is processed by Carmencita Film Lab. I trust them fully for both their work and their humanity. Use code "PROCESS" for a free upgrade on your next order.
Next Week
A special dive into my fault to visit Japan!
How You Can Support Process?
If these Sunday issues give you something, energy, motivation, a new way of seeing. you can support Process by picking up:
The Process Workbook, Volume 3: A 100-Day Creative Habit is built to help you develop your eye, stay creatively grounded, and finish the year with a quiet body of work that feels like you. It’s €14.99 from my webshop or free for paying members of the Process Photo Club, along with a bunch of other perks and books. More info here.
🗃️ Browse the Process Archives.
📜 Read the Process Manifesto.
🚧 Currently Working On1
Currently Working On / Project Updates (r = release date)
Process Workbook, Vol. 4 — Writing has started (r: Jan)
Creatives In/AMS — Preparing launch
NOTICE Journal, Volume Two — Image selection, round 1
25 in 2025 — Shoot prep
Photo Walks: Vienne (Oct 18), Paris (Nov 16)
New Portfolio Website — Learning how to code!
Totally captures the commentary and including Perzia in her creation made this warm and intimate, so well done. A great reference for those meeting this challenge.
Gorgeous!