11:eleven Photography

In today’s world, smartphones and social media platforms offer a nearly instant way to capture and share moments. The value of the physical photo seems to have diminished considerably. I don’t know if you remember being a child and looking through photos of yourself when you were younger, or a young adult visiting your parents and looing through the old albums. There is a wonderfully warm joy in holding a printed photograph in your hands, almost like the paper itself holds that moment frozen in time and holding it in your hands takes you back to that moment. In this post, we will look at why printing photos still holds its charm, and why it remains a time honored tradition, even despite the digital revolution.

1. Tangible Memories: Physical prints are essentially a hotline to core memories that even you have forgotten about. Holding a photograph in your hands can transport you smack dab into a specific moment, releasing long forgotten feelings, emotions, nostalgia, and even smells. Like the way grandmas kitchen always smelled like chocolate chip cookies. The tangible nature of printed photos actually allows us to create a physical connection with our memories, that cannot be replicated digitally on a screen. I’m telling you, there’s just something about photo paper.
2. Aesthetic Appeal: Printing a photograph adds the finishing artistic touches that are in my opinion, lacking in a digital images. With a physical print, It’s not just a line of code on a page lacking any real depth. And the options are limited. The choice of paper, the finish, and the size of the print can each have a significant impact on an image. From the texture of the paper, the subtle gloss or matte finish, to the vibrancy of the colors all play a part. Printing gives you the power to transform a digital snapshot, to take it beyond a 2 dimensional flat image, and turn it into an beautiful work of art that can be displayed in your home or office. It becomes a point of conversation. It can be admired, enjoyed, instead of simply scrolled past, lost in a sea of posts about helicopters and people looking for reliable cat trainers.
3. Preservation and Legacy: Digital files are not the safe, permanent files we once thought they would be. Hard drives crash. File formats and storage devices are constantly changing, and with each new development there’s always a risk of losing files, or losing access to digital images in the future. And it’s hard to sit in front of the fire with your family and flip through the pages of your external drive. Printed photos on the other hand, well they have withstood the test of time. Literally. Family photo albums, shoe boxes filled with old photographs, walls filled with the photos of our families tell our stories. They create a real connection between ourselves and previous generations. Physical prints are heirlooms. They can be passed down to loved ones, ensuring that your memories will be cherished and remembered for years to come. Or pass them down to your enemies so they never forget either.
4. Mindful Engagement: Today we live in a fast-paced digital world, photos and information is being viewed in an almost mindless state at times. Scrolling just to scroll. Scrolling through an endless feed of digital images can be overwhelming and actually can lead to a lack of meaningful engagement. Looking through printed photos encourages us to slow down, focus, and appreciate the image we’re looking at. Maybe because it’s not going to show up in your feed 73 more times today. Displaying printed photographs in our homes gives us an opportunity and a reminder to pause, reflect, and relish in the captured moments, it can give us a sense of mindfulness and gratitude. It’s a lot harder to scroll past a wall of memories that carry personal feelings and connection.
5. Personalization and Creativity: There are countless ways to use printed photos as part of your own creative expression. You can curate a photo wall, either themed or random. You can make photo collages, or create photo albums that are unique, capturing your most cherished memories. Experiment with different layouts, unusual frames, and uncommon compositions. Go crazy. You can bring your own artistic vision to life and make your living room into your own personalized gallery featuring the life and times of you. Get creative.

So, I’m not saying digital images have no place in this world. It’s a digital world, and we’re all just digital squirrels. Digital copies do have their advantages when considering convenience and accessibility. Anywhere, anytime (as long as you have at least 2 bars of service). But the printed photos still hold an appeal. Tangible memories, aesthetic appeal, preservation, and mindful engagement are just a few reasons why printing photos remains a practice in todays fast paced digital world. I challenge you. Spend an evening scrolling through the photos on your phone. And then spend an evening going through that shoebox full of photos. Tell me which one brought you more satisfaction. Which one brought you more joy? Which one wakes up those long sleeping feelings and emotions? I’ll be over here printing my photos.

“Look at this photograph, every time I do it makes me laugh…” – Nickleback.