Today I want to talk to you about a topic that, unfortunately, is often underestimated in digital photography: the printing of photographs.
We live in an age where photographs are taken and shared continuously on social media, many times we forget the importance that a physical photograph, well printed and framed, can have in our lives.
Digital photography has allowed us to take an unlimited number of photos without worrying about the finitude of the film. However, this has also led to the creation of a huge amount of digital files, often dispersed among various devices and platforms. Over time, these files can become difficult to find and are at risk of being lost. Not only. As machines evolve, the current formats of our digital files may soon become obsolete and, sooner or later, will be unreadable.
The alarm was raised by Vinton Cerf, one of the fathers of the internet and vice president of Google, already in 2015: “We digitize things because we think of preserving them, but what we don’t understand is that, unless other actions are taken , these digital versions are no better than real artifacts. Maybe I’m even worse. If you have photos you care about, print them.“
Why is photo printing so important?
A printed photograph has a quality that cannot be replicated by a screen. The colors are more vivid, the sharpness is superior and the texture of the paper gives a three-dimensional effect to the image. Furthermore, printing our photographs allows us to select the images that we consider truly important and to enhance them, choosing the size, the type of paper, the frame and the effect we want to give to our photograph, making it unique and unrepeatable.
Despite digital obsolescence, a printed photograph is a TANGIBLE and precious object, which can be placed anywhere, from the desk to the wall of the house, and can be viewed at any time without the need for an electronic device.
But the printing of photographs has not only an AESTHETIC value (Today, more and more people buy photographs to decorate their homes or offices, for their beauty, as well as for the message they convey). It also has an EMOTIONAL value. Printed photographs represent a moment, a memory, an emotion that we want to keep and share with others. And what could be more beautiful than showing the people we love a photograph that represents a special moment in our lives?
Just think of the opportunity to create a photo album: with it you can create a story, a story, a flow of memories and emotions experienced in those moments, which you can tell and relive endlessly, from page to page. Photo albums are a real treasure, an object that is handed down from generation to generation and which allows us to relive the best moments of our lives.
Among the various printing methods, Fine Art printing deserves a separate discussion:
The Fine Art printing of photographs has an added value compared to traditional printing, since it uses equipment and materials of the highest quality, such as cotton paper, pigmented inks, and a printing process that guarantees a long life over time, even over 100 years.
A printed Fine Art photograph has not only an aesthetic and emotional value but also an ARTISTIC one. Thanks to its quality and the printing process used, a Fine Art photograph becomes a real work of art, destined to be appreciated and preserved for many years.
Ultimately, printing our photographs not only allows us to fully appreciate their beauty at the highest possible quality, but also allows us to give them an emotional as well as aesthetic value, to convey a message and to be able to share it with others.
So, the next time you take a photograph that you particularly like, take the time to print it and appreciate it, possibly even considering the option of Fine Art printing as a product with added value compared to a traditional print, to preserve and share your lasting and meaningful memories. Don’t limit yourself to storing your photographs only on digital media, but give them tangible life through print, of any kind.
