I bought my first amateur digital camera sometime in the 2000s (I have no idea exactly when) to take pictures of vacations and our family growing up through the years. These weren't images that I planned on reproducing in 20 by 30 inch print size for hanging on a wall. They were for personal memories and would never get printed larger than 4x6. I chose digital because it was easy... no having to process film then go in a darkroom and print all night.
After some time, I realized once I shot those images, I was looking at them on a monitor -- not just negatives that I never got around to printing, but the positive digital images I could see immediately on the camera and computer. This was a big change for me. I had a load of negatives that I had never actually seen because they had never been printed on paper, but digital allowed me to see my work right away. That in and of itself was miraculous! I found I could create little slide shows for the family, add these digital images to invites and family emails, edit in a comfortable room with no chemical smell. And not once did I have to create an actual print. What?!? No print?!? I can hear you all silently screaming. This was a significant, and at the same time, uncomfortable revelation to me. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would give up printing -- I mean, wasn't that the whole point of photography? It was disconcerting to think that all those years of printing could so easily be discarded. And although I like to see prints and turn pages in a book or portfolio, I see no need to go through the process of creating prints just because that is something I like to do. I have come to realize the point of photography is not so much the printing of images as it is the sharing of images. We share ideas, we share moments, we share ourselves, and that can easily be done without an actual print. The images we create can be presented in many ways, through social media, through a website, via email attachment or text. It may be digital, but it's sharing nonetheless. My life, all our lives, have become more and more digital and less and less analogue. I do not get a newspaper... I read news off of my phone. I do read books... but more and more that is becoming digital as well. Sure, if I wanted to, I could create prints of almost any size since I shoot RAW files, but do I really need to do this in order to share an idea, to make a statement, to share an emotion? Nope. When you create images for printing, you have to change your parameters, your way of thinking. The image on the screen is emitting light from that screen, so has a very different look from a print that reflects light off paper. You have to worry about lost detail in the shadows, image contrast, how ink will reproduce your work, and a host of other elements that create issues when you try to create a physical print. For the most part, people see my images on a screen, so I make those images the way I want them to look on that screen. That is my canvas. Will I print photos again? Probably so, but I don't see any pressing need at the moment. I am not interested in selling my images, I don't have so much empty wall space that I need to fill it up with prints, and I am honestly happy with the way my images are presented on screen. You may think that a photograph isn't a photograph without the print, but I would argue that if anything can be the embodiment of "light-drawing", it would be the one made out of light... in other words, the screen image. Oh the horror I hear you cry, oh the fists I see raised in my general direction. I feel your pain... I really do. It's hard for me to even write that I'm not printing, but still consider myself a photographer. I spent half my life learning chemical processes and acquiring the skills needed to successfully reproduce my negatives in print form. But I had to get to a point where I was able to let go of my beloved darkroom, my film, my paper. It was just getting harder and harder to find the products I used, find darkroom space to work in, and keep the passion going as digital took over. I applaud any who are jumping into traditional print photography... it makes me happy to know there will be a new batch of image makers that will stun the future with their work. But for me, in my new reality, the reflections of a print are of a bygone day... the incident light of the computer screen is now my home. And since I've spent half my life in one direction, I think it's high time I try a new one.
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