Printing Your Photographs

A fine art print provides a more intimate experience than an image on a screen. © David C. Lester

 

If you’re over 30, chances are you have memories of informal family gatherings to look at pictures your parents made of you when you were a child, images of your parents when they were dating, and even photos of your grandparents and great-grandparents when they were at different ages. The pictures are in a shoebox, a photo album, or a simple envelope or folder, like the ones drug stores and old camera stores would return your processed pictures along with the negatives.

All of the images were printed, including the bad ones. This printing led to waste, and there were probably relatively few “keepers” in the bunch.

If you’re between your late teens and late twenties, you’ve likely taken and viewed most of your photographs using the camera in your cell phone. This method is fun and convenient, and your pictures can stay with you on your phone, or transferred to your computer at a later date. You will also likely back up your images through a cloud-based program, external hard drive, or even a thumb-drive. And, if a picture turns out poorly, you can just hit the “delete” button, and the image disappears in the ashbin of digital history.

I’m astonished at some of the stories I hear regarding folks who have taken treasured photographs, yet have not printed any of them. For example, I recently led a discussion of young photographers, and each said they had never printed one of their images. These folks were in late high school and college, and I know money is tight at that age, so I can understand why they didn’t do a lot of printing. But, not one?

I also spoke with someone recently whose daughter got married, and the photographer, at the client’s request, delivered merely digital images of the ceremony and reception. The client said they would have them printed later. The surprising thing was that the wedding took place three years ago. If the client hasn’t had any printed by now, will they ever?

When you consider how rapidly technology around digital photography has changed over the past twenty years, are you confident that your treasured photographs will be available electronically thirty or forty years from now? It’s entirely possible that technology will evolve in such a way as to maintain the integrity of these images, but it’s also possible that it won’t.

I’m certainly not advocating going back to the old days of printing everything you shoot, but there is a happy medium that I think everyone should consider. To ensure the integrity of your images, I believe you should print your “keepers” so they will be around for a long time for your family or clients to enjoy. Many believe that the ultimate expression of an image is a fine art print. Ansel Adams once said, “the negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score, and the print the performance.” There is something about a beautiful print that provides the viewer a much more intimate experience than an image on a screen.

The Professional Photographers of America (PPA) has initiated a campaign to raise awareness of the need to print photographs. It’s called PRINT. The Movement. Information about this program, along with thoughts on the value and beauty of prints can be found at printmovement.org.