From Photo to Fractured Portrait: Choosing the Right Photo

Every custom broken glass portrait begins with a photograph. The photo decides how much detail the glass can hold, how the light falls on the face and how recognisable the result will be. Here is how to choose the right photos for a commission — and what to do if the perfect photo does not exist.

What makes a good reference photo

• Clear light on the face. Side light from a window is ideal: it creates highlights and shadows, which the fractures translate into light and dark.
• Sharp eyes. The eyes carry a portrait. If they are blurred, the glass cannot invent them.
• Large enough. Original files from a phone or camera work far better than screenshots or images saved from social media.
• A natural expression. A relaxed face often reads better in glass than a wide smile.
• The face large in the frame. A face that fills most of the image gives the artist far more information than a small figure in a group photo.

How many photos to send

Two to five photos are ideal. One main photo for the composition, and others that show the face from slightly different angles or in different light. They help the artist understand the features that make a person recognisable.

Old photos, memorials and group photos

Many commissions are made in memory of someone who has passed away, and the best photo is often old, small or part of a group. Send it anyway. Yasin will tell you honestly what is possible. Faces can be taken from group photos, and several photos can be combined into one composition, as long as the key features are visible somewhere.

What happens next

Once you send your photos through the commission form, you receive a personal reply within 24–48 hours with composition ideas, a timeline and a fixed price. Nothing is paid until you approve the design. Then a 40% deposit reserves your place, the glass is sourced to size, and the portrait is made by hand — in total about 2–3 weeks from design approval to dispatch. Before it ships, you see photos of the finished, framed work.

Your photos stay private

Reference photos are used only to design your commission. They are never published or shared without your explicit permission, and if no order follows they are deleted 12 months after the last contact, or sooner on request. See the privacy policy.

Ready to begin? Start with the commission form, or look at a finished private commission first.