Even though the year isn’t over, I already know my favorite photography project of the year: documenting the Fayetteville home of Martha Sutherland. After her passing, her family reached out and asked me to create professional photographs of the house so they could preserve its details and memories. It was one of those special projects that reminded me why I love architecture and interior photography—because of the stories, character, and history that homes hold.
If you didn’t know her, she was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon) with a B.A. in Art in 1949, where she went to school with Andy Warhol.
She married architect Cyrus A. Sutherland; together they created a life surrounded by art, design and architecture—a legacy that still resonates in the home I was invited to photograph. They lived in Europe, had two children, and eventually landed in Fayetteville, Ark., where they had their third child. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Art from the University of Arkansas, was a faculty member of the School of Architecture, and retired as Associate Professor Emerita. She was a talented artist and her creative pursuits spanned painting, drawing, lettering and calligraphy, among other talents. She authored multiple books on lettering, graphic fundamentals and model making, and hand-lettered the diplomas for architecture grads. She was active in the community and served as a trustee of the Fayetteville Public Library, supported the local arts scene, and was involved in Theatre Squared and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Martha passed away at her Fayetteville home in May at the age of 97.
I never met Martha, but I spent four hours in her home on July 4th with her daughter Celia. I’m so thankful Celia was there to tell me all the stories about her mom and the home, to give me a better understanding of the importance of every part of her collection. This kind of special photography project goes beyond documenting; it’s about honoring the spirit of a family home.
Celia told me about her mom being a runner throughout her life. That she ran three miles a day, but began walking those three miles after breaking her hip a few years ago. She told me how the bathtub upstairs overflowed one evening and drenched the dining room ceiling. She shared how her mother installed a heated floor in the office/sunroom after their father passed away. How she hand-scraped the rock birdbaths in the backyard. She talked about her collection of art, and artifacts from her travels around the world. How she hand painted the ‘tapestries’ in the dining room and also the eggs so carefully created for each child to mark their stage of life. She hand lettered invitations to parties and collected things like snake skins and turtle shells from around the yard. She even had an original Andy Warhol painting that hung over her bed in the family home until it was donated to Crystal Bridges in 2013. The painting was purchased while they were students at Carnegie, signed with his early name, Andrew Warhola. She kept a beautiful garden, had a collection of books on Marcus Aurelius and liked to make Negronis from the handwritten recipe she got from a friend.
Martha’s home was so thoughtfully crafted and curated, and it was such an honor to photograph a space that reflected her artistry and life. Projects like this remind me why documentary style photography is so meaningful: it captures not only design, but the also legacy of the people who lived in the space.
Do you have a project you’d like documented with professional photography? Contact me to discuss how we can preserve your space and its story.