Photographs Deserve Paper.
An opinion.
I am a culprit of my crime. Rarely - to never - printing my creations. Entombing my beloved moments to the shackles of a 6-inch screen, the nuances and the detail forever confined to the pixels.
Not so long ago, In the last 2 or three decades in fact; this was not the case. In the not-so-distant past, the only way to view your photos was to wallow in the darkest of nights only to reveal the pleasures of past light. A process so tactile and methodical yet one very few ever mastered. I am drawn to the likes of Cartier-Bresson and Maier to remind me of a past I was never a part of, yet inspires me daily.
The art of putting images to Ink appears to be lost to a new generation of photographers. With talent abundant and follower counts in the millions - why do so few people print their photography?
looking at the constraints of modern-day photo printing the obvious culprit is finances. With the advent and mass adoption of digital photography, the cost has been significantly reduced to produce photos and many steps removed in the process of printing. However, the financial incentive today has largely been lost. I believe, people in today's world would merely be printing for the sheer pleasure of printing. Not because they need to. As was once the case. As mentioned earlier, there was once a true necessity to print, whether it be to get your portfolio in front of your future employer or to reveal from the chemicals a treasured memory. The reality of today is that in most instances your memories are stored on your phone and your portfolio is a PDF link ready to send off to your next potential client. So why, in this world of the ever-rising cost of living would it seem justifiable to print on a whim? Or is the financial reasoning simply a thinly veiled excuse for our lack of interest In printing?
Could it be that our pleasures no longer lie in placing an image on a wall for house guests to marvel at but come from the dopaminergic hit of having 100 likes on Instagram? It is now well-documented that our brains react on a biological level to the stimulation of social media input. Both positively, and negatively affecting our mood. Could it be that for new photographers these “hits” of dopamine are enough to satisfy them that their photography is appreciated and superficially “liked” that they never feel a need to delve deeper into the practice and history of the art form? With this mentality, it appears that the art of printing has already been sentenced to the history books.
On the face of it, printing seems a daunting task - to me at least - What paper to choose? What colour profile do you need to be using to achieve accurate colour? After setting myself goals to print more images and delve into the world of film photography I have opened my eyes to a world I always thought was out of reach… my firm conclusion is I have never taken more pleasure from my photos than when I have seen them printed in front of me. Whether those images be 6x4 or A1 in size. Framed, unframed, high quality or low quality - the physical act of having my work in front of me changed the way I value and view my photography.
In today's day and age “everyone is a photographer” and “the iPhone camera is just as good” are phrases I am sure even the most novice photographers will have heard. 91% of the world now has a smartphone of some kind, leading to the assumption that 91% of the world can take a photo and upload that to the internet. Thus implying 91% of the world, in some capacity, is a photographer. Could it be that the sheer volume of photographs we see daily discourages new photographers from trying to cut through the noise? A futile effort with little reward, perhaps? Recent figures quote that 95 million photos are uploaded to Instagram alone in one 24-hour period. It certainly appears a futile effort. Moreover, I truly believe in the encouragement printing offers photographers. Whether it be budding amateurs or down-and-out professionals. Seeing your work, a culmination of the time, effort and passion you have given to your subject put to paper and neatly encapsulated behind glass, should fill you with pride. Nonetheless, it also offers you a new avenue to receive praise and critique for your work, further pushing you to explore and develop your talents. A win-win, you could argue.
Once I started printing my images my understanding of photography was instantly expanded and evolved allowing me to explore new avenues in the creative process. From start to finish my whole creation process was adapted. Now, when I went out with my camera I had an end goal in mind rather than mindlessly creating photographs which once posted online would never be seen again I was more considerate of how these images would be translated into a material medium. How are colours translated to paper? What type of paper will these images suit? Matte? Lustre? Gloss? All questions I never considered, were now at the forefront of my mind as I clicked the shutter button. It also offered me new inspiration to get out and make photos.
On the surface, printing seems to be a lost art, constrained to artisan practitioners and old-school photographers but I do not believe you have to look very hard to find the value in the modern world for escaping the entrapments of the digital and bringing your work to life.