KOCHI: Memories we cherish become the most valuable treasures of life. Be it the time spent with your children, spouses, or even the old pal who was always there for you. Artist Raeesa Manaal knows exactly how much these memories mean, and that is why the Thrissur-based young artisan has the perfect keepsake for your frames. Hand-painted covers and soulful descriptions make her vintage photo albums featured on the Instagram page ‘Beautiful Oops’ stand out.
Raeesa converts the colourful memories into monochrome photographs, that are stacked on the leaves of hand-made albums. “Regardless of the time passed, black and white photos will take you down the memory lane. And it also goes well with the vintage theme. Also, albums and printed photographs have an emotional attachment that can never be brought out by digitally-stored images,” says Raeesa, who started grabbing the spotlight during the lockdown.
The pregnancy journey of a woman, the birthday of an 18-year-old, an old couple’s life journey, a two-decades-long friendship story, the birth of a child and many more such priceless moments have found a place in her albums. It all started a year ago when one of her friends, a writer, requested Raeesa to make a handmade gift for his wife on her birthday. “I collected their photos and created a small photo album, with drawings and Malayalam haikus. To my luck, it became a hit and enquiries started to flow in,” she says.
The 15cm x 15cm albums have 10 to 25 pages on average. She makes the paintings with gouache and acrylic paint. “One of the most memorable works I have done was curating an old couple’s life journey. It was a gift from their children. There was also an album meant for the first birthday of and a baby, which even had the first sonograph image,” she says.Vintage journal books and memory boxes are also bestsellers. “We also offer vintage craft boxes where the clients themselves can create their designs using things inside the box and gift it to dear ones,” adds Raeesa.
Check her @beautifuloops