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What is Mezzo Fresco?

HEAD SHOTS, a photography studio located just steps from Santa Fe’s historic plaza, offers customized portraiture based on ancient techniques of fresco painting, along with private and group photography workshops.

HEAD SHOTS portraits are studio portraits developed in the mezzo fresco technique. Fresco, which comes from the Italian word affresco or "fresh," is an ancient painting technique in which mineral pigments are applied on a freshly plastered wall or ceiling. The earliest frescos were painted around 2000 BCE by the Minoans during the Bronze Age.

In Fotos Mezzo Fresco™, pigments are printed onto a special film and then moved to a semi-wet, ground-marble mixture that has been coated on wood. As the marble mixture dries, the pigments penetrate the material to create a unique archival photograph.

Photographer and photo frescoist, Shari Kessler, has evolved this technique for her creative products. Shari orchestrates each portrait with a personalized solid-color background and one-of-a kind finishing. HEAD SHOTS Fotos Mezzo Fresco™ include these products: the décor wood portrait panel and the portrait pendant. The portrait pendant comes with a sterling silver or tin frame of choice and a stand, so that the pendant can be worn or displayed. A four panel portrait is also available.

New Mexican silversmiths and traditional tin workers handcraft the pendant frames. The design for the frames has its roots in Spanish Colonial and Northern New Mexican tinwork.

HEAD SHOTS Studio is open every day of the week, by Private Appointment.

Schedule your Portrait now!
portrait@headshots-santafe.com