Why I Always Print My Photography
I don’t take many photos for someone highly interested and passionate about photography. At least compared to others. There are months through the winter when I don’t even touch my camera. The winter months, cold weather, and limited light demotivate me. When spring comes, I start to get associated with my gear again and make sure I remember what and how I used to do things. I check the settings, ensuring I’m still familiar with its operation, and see which selection of film recipes are still stored in the camera. I have some favourite recipes, so I’ll probably use some of them again, but if I find something new I want to explore, I’ll replace one of my existing recipes with another.
The first time out after the hibernating winter is usually rough, as the motivation and creativity aren’t instant; I can’t immediately turn it on. But once I get going, the excitement stays with me, usually for the rest of the year or until winter makes its next appearance.
At least once a year, I curate photos I have taken, visualizing how they will look printed. I’ll add a matte to them in Photoshop, align the documents side-by-side, and look around my house for somewhere they could go. I have many framed artworks in my home, but the work that I have produced is concentrated in one room. I feel it works well together if it’s all in one area. It’s a theme I think works, at least for me. After all, I don’t want to look at my art all the time; I want to be inspired by others, and the art in other rooms reflects my diversity in the types of photography I admire.
I have previously had framed photos on my wall from Iceland, New York, and a few shots from Venice. Just recently, I was looking through my work that concluded 2024. My last trip of the year to Italy. I like these photos; I think the entire experience itself, with everything that went precisely as planned, and was everything I hoped for, along with the things that did not. All of it together, along with the photos I had captured, was one of the best trips of this decade so far.
If we make it so, reflecting on our past work is effortless. A website is probably one of the most convenient ones I’ve found, but Instagram is also great. But since most of our work stays buried in an archive on a hard drive, looking back and thinking of those times isn’t easy. It takes effort, it takes digging, and it takes time. There are numerous reasons why I like printing my work. First, seeing our work in print is an entirely different experience from viewing it online. The tangibility of a photograph and its presentation are forms of completion in this world of photography. It’s the final step in realizing that vision we experienced from the moment we captured it. Secondly, a correctly printed and framed photograph is a beautiful thing that can be effortlessly admired and experienced every time we pass it. That is a much better experience than bringing up a website or Instagram; the final act of printing and framing gives the finalized photo a sense of importance. When we love our work so much that it resonates so deeply, we print it for everlasting enjoyment; it elevates that work to another level of appreciation.
It’s funny how some of our best work doesn’t work with various mediums. Some photographs can look great on a website, but don’t work as prints. Some photos can stand alone, but others can’t. They need a series of accompanying, related images to make the whole story work.
The most critical element of photography is that we create for ourselves, to satisfy us. Displaying and enjoying our work in the place we live is the physical expression of our intentions. We take an idea and a vision, capture it as we see it, and turn it into a product we can hold, share, and enjoy for years.
If you haven’t printed your work recently, I encourage you to start looking through what you have created to see what you have. What works for you, what looks good as a print? Find an excellent print provider, and send some of your favourites to be produced. When the time comes and you hear that knock on the door, it’s a great feeling. That delivery that arrived is work you put your heart into.