The Print in the Digital Era
We live entirely in a digital era. The zeros and ones have invaded our daily lives much more than we could have possibly imagined just a few decades ago. And photography is no stranger to this great change. Those endless debates between supporters and opponents of digital photography seem long forgotten. Everyone, almost without exception, has embraced the digital workflow as the only viable one. And I have to admit that without doubt, when it comes to capturing, archiving and processing, digital photography has provided us with a creative control and possibilities unimaginable in the analog era.
However, I also believe that there is a part of photography which we must not forget, and that recently has caught my attention. I’m talking about printing.
Sadly, over the last years, we have been accustomed to seeing our pictures in inert but bright digital monitors, which radiate photons directly to our retinas to get our volatile attention.
This situation has gotten even worse with the emergence of smartphones, the wonderful tools that allow us anything from making a purchase to locating the nearest ATM. At the same time, they acclaim the immediacy and uncontrollable need to consume images at a dizzying pace. Smartphones have gotten us in the habit of looking at pictures on a laughably small screen, where by sliding a finger we let pass hundreds and hundreds of images per minute, with no time to absorb its content or message.
There is no room for pause, for peace, for admiration and contemplation. For this reason, I think that the printed photograph makes sense, now more than ever. Furthermore, the print should be promoted and claim its place in our environment. Only then we can admire photography again in all its splendour, because photography is more than zeros and ones, it is much more than a ephemeral consumable on our phone.
Driven by this idea, I have decided to print and archive carefully a selection of my best photographs, to admire and enjoy them as they really deserve.
Tomorrow maybe I’m not here, maybe my hard drives stop spinning, and the server cancels my web. An impression on paper hung on a wall will always remind those who contemplate it, that I was here once.
If you’d like to buy my carefully printed original photographs, shoot me an email: info@enriquepacheco.com.