Photons to Fotos

Should I print my best work? this question raises its head from time to time, and whereas a few years ago i would have argued that any decent work should be printed, today, i am not so sure…

I have been brought up in a world, where serious work is printed, and displayed as a print…if the aim is to show it to many people, then the print should be large and hung up on a wall.

Is this true today?

What is the aim of anything which has the ambition of calling itself art, if not to provide pleasure and provoke as many people as possible?

Compare therefore a 36 x 24 inch print hanging up in my home (at worst) or a gallery (at best) with a social media post seen by hundreds, even thousands.

Clearly the social media post has more reach. What the social media post lacks is possibly the ability to show case the technical abilities of the creator…In the case of a photograph, we are considering detail, and the nuances which only careful colour calibration can ensure….therefore the social media post does not give the creator control over the technical aspects of the photograph. Neither does it give the photographer, the possiblity to show off the technical aspects of his craft…sharpness, resolution, care in exposing correctly are all at least partially concealed.

This ignores the elephant in the room of course….money and ownership of the work of art/photograph. If a photograph is to have an owner, then by necessity it needs to be unique….hence the print, preferrably signed.

Any photograph shared on the internet, both through mainstream social media but also through photograph sharing sites such as 500px, by definition, will distort the traditional concept of ownership.

Clearly the internet, while providing a blank wall to show one`s work, can also provide an instrument for feedback on what is considered by the population at large as a successful photograph.

The danger lies in commoditisation and trivialization. The flood of videos, information and frankly, garbage which flows through the internet will work against any creator.

Hence, the print…..the discussion therefore goes full circle, from printing, to showing them off on the internet, to going back to printing them….all in an effort to give them value, showcase the technique behind them, and to ensure that they are given the attention they deserve.

So back to print I go….well maybe not print 🙂 but a large 4k display, with a wide colour gamut…it is 2022 after all 🙂