Balloon Obsession
Balloon installation by LA-based Jihan Zencirli of Geronimo.
The fact that I'm obsessed with balloon installations is a slightly incongruous with the fact that I detest the sound of balloons popping. This is a fact that my fiancé (who shares my balloon-popping fear) frequently reminds me of when I tell him that I'm considering a balloon installation as part of our wedding decor scheme. But I am a girl who will suffer for fashion, and balloon installations are certainly fashionable.
Tim Walker's photograph of balloons pouring out of Eglingham Hall in Northumberland in Tim Walker Pictures. (Note that the balloons are floating out of the windows rather than applied to the facade.)
While it may seem as it if balloons have burst on the scene recently, the myth of overnight success has been debunked by Psychology Today, Forbes and Entrepreneur. The same is true for balloons. It was nearly eighteen years, that the British genius photograph Tim Walker shot Eglingham Hall in Northumberland for Italian Vogue. Walker has credited Albert Lamorisse’s book and film 'The Red Balloon' as an early influence for his fanciful set designs. You can certainly see the influence in the Eglingham Hall shoot.
“I was disappointed that there weren’t more balloons. I wanted hundreds coming out of the windows, but we didn’t have the money, manpower or helium. The clock always has to stop and it did. We couldn’t pre-prepare it because after a while the helium begins to deflate.”
Aynhoe Park, Oxfordshire, UK 2012 wedding featured in Junebug.
Since Walker's image, balloons en masse have become a playful party feature. And if you're looking to add some balloon decor to your next soiree there are certainly plenty of options from companies like Poppies for Grace in Australia and Geronimo in Los Angeles to creatives like Brittany Watson Jepsen from the House that Lars Built. With so many options, the only thing between me and my balloon dreams is my fear of the sound of that popping.
Balloons in the pages of Vogue India.
Heidi Moore of The Bespokery creates festive balloon installations in Australia.
Balloon installation by Australian-based Poppies for Grace for Chyka.