Our Story

Aura Archive is a modern portrait house. We transform real photographs into museum-style portraits of the people and the lives we want to remember — likeness-first artwork rendered across curated portrait worlds, from old master oils to modern editorial.

We started with a simple frustration: traditional portrait commissions are extraordinary, but they take months and cost thousands. Photography is fast and beautiful, but most of us never see ourselves in the language of the painters we love. Aura Archive sits in the gap between the two — a portrait you can preview before you commit, hang above the mantle, and pass down. The patience of an old craft, the speed of a new one.

Our process is part library, part atelier. The library is a curated collection of portrait worlds — each painted in a specific historical language, with its own palette, surface, costume, and atmosphere. The atelier is the brief itself: a careful description of the work as if it were being commissioned from a real painter, with the sitter’s likeness held as the non-negotiable centre. What comes back is recognisably you, painted as you might have been painted in another century.

When you choose to print, the work is produced on Hahnemühle fine art paper, gallery-wrapped canvas, or float-framed canvas using archival pigment inks trusted by museums worldwide. Each piece is built to last generations — not seasons. We also press apparel and small objects, for the days when you want to carry the work with you rather than hang it.

Aura Archive is for adults — for self-portraits, for couples, for the milestone year, the founder headshot, the retirement gift, the in-memory commission. A beloved companion may be painted into the work as a second sitter. Family and children portraits live with a sister brand built specifically for that audience. Ten percent of net profits go to a charitable partner aligned with our values; the beneficiary will be announced soon.