For me it’s all about the print.

I’m going to tell you a bit of a secret. I don’t love photography. Well that’s not entirely true. I do love photography. But in a sense I love photographs more than I love photography.

Let me explain….

I like taking pictures well enough, but for me a photograph isn’t complete until it’s on paper. That’s the part that I really love.

It goes all the way back to when I first got serious about photography. When I was getting started I had the amazing opportunity to take part in a school co-op program that placed me at the local newspaper for a semester. It makes me feel a little old to admit this, but back then digital cameras weren’t really a thing; especially not on a professional level. All the photographs that were taken for the paper were done on film. A big part of my experience at the newspaper was working in the darkroom developing film and making prints. Making a print in a darkroom is a magical thing. If you’ve ever done it, you know the feeling when the image begins to appear from nothing on the page. It still fascinates me and I work in the darkroom from time to time when I can.

Technology has changed and while I still enjoy the darkroom process, digital photography and printing has many advantages. As much as I hate to admit it, digital prints are just as good and in some way better than a darkroom print (that may be up for debate, but we’ll leave it for anther day).

Luckily the magic of seeing a photograph printed and holding it in your hands or hanging it on your wall is still there. It’s a little less magical to wait and watch as the print slowly emerges from my printer, but the print itself is no less special. Seeing an image in print makes me love it so much more. It’s partly psychological I think, but when it becomes a physical, tangible object, it gains an importance that just can’t be replicated on a screen. There is research about how the eyes and brain perceive reflected light from a print differently than transmitted light from a screen. I’ve read about it before, but I can’t say I remember the details. All I know is that for me it’s not a complete photograph until it leaves the digital world and becomes something I can hold onto.

I could send my files to a lab and have the printing done by someone else. That would certainly be easier, but I do my own printing as much as possible. Printing myself gives me complete control over creative choices like paper type. I’m also able to really dial in the quality and colour accuracy of my prints. I choose to work with archival inks and paper, so the prints will be around for future generations to enjoy. Maybe most importantly it allows me to have a hands on relationship with my work that I just don’t get from working at a computer screen alone.