There is a place for items that add emotional value to your life. Here is why you should still buy photography prints in this digital age.
In an age dominated by the minimalist, less-is-more mentality, buying art feels superfluous. On the other hand, Marie Kondo herself preaches to keep that which brings you joy. I am here to tell you why photography prints are worth your precious coin and wall space. Not everything you purchase needs to be functional; there is a place for those items that provide psychological, emotional value to your life. These are ten reasons why you should buy prints in this digital age.
Buy Prints to Preserve
Digital files are not guaranteed to last a lifetime. Assuming you handle them carefully and don’t lose them, file data corruption is always a possibility. Furthermore, as technology advances, an individual will move between devices with more and more frequency.
As a result, you’re counting on your files to survive countless transfers and migrations. I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost many old files, photos, and documents through various relocations and upgrades. It’s a risky business.
Keep photography prints close and protected, and they can last longer than a fickle digital file. They might even gain value.
Nostalgia
Like an old book or document, a printed photograph inspires a sentimental feeling that a digital image never will.
When you’re holding a photograph between your fingers, that tangibility recruits all of your senses. The texture shows through. There’s a faint smell of clean paper. You can hear the subtle shuffling as you’re flipping through a stack of photos or a photo album.
An image on a screen will never feel that close to your heart.
Buy Prints to Remember
Physical properties aside, we photograph to remember. A printed photograph preserves a moment in time. It’s tangible, relatable, and genuine. It’s not a relic of the past, viewed once, and then left in the oblivion of digital space.
A printed photo is with you as you move forward, there to gracefully remind you of where you came from. Allow printed images to guide you through your future.
Collect Prints
I could google all the famous photographers of the past and view various works digitally, with little to no effort. I can *like* them, *share* them, admire them. That will never replace what it would mean to me to own an original print of their work.
This might not mean the world to everyone, but if you’re like me, the personal value of one of these prints will only increase over time. You can’t say that about most things you spend your hard-earned dollars on.
Emergence
Though I’ll admit that quality photos appear extraordinary when viewed on a high-resolution screen, that’s nothing next to a quality print.
Traditionally, film photography wouldn’t come to be anything until they magically revealed themselves on the paper floating in solution. The photos came alive through the extensive printing process. To this day, though the process has changed, images are brought to life through printing. The colours are vibrant. The contrast is evident. You’re not only viewing it; you’re living it.
A screen can’t invoke that kind of spirit, no matter the quality or resolution.
Creative Elements
On that note, the mentality of the photographer hasn’t changed either. The great photographers that offer prints of their work don’t imagine their photos viewed on a mere screen; it’s thought of on paper or canvas or wood or other more obscure mediums.
Viewing their work solely on a screen eliminates the photo’s distinguishing creative elements that you would see in the printed counterpart.
Buy Prints to Support
This point may be obvious but purchasing an artist’s work supports their craft. Like paying to watch movies or listen to music, photography is an art that deserves that monetary value the same as any other.
nlike other art forms where you are posting photos of the work, in photography, the photo is the work. As a result, it is commonly taken for granted as something anyone can do, and anyone can enjoy – for free. I find this attitude devalues the skill of great photography.
Not to mention, professional photography equipment is costly. As a photographer, you do need a way to finance your art.
Buying prints is an excellent way for photography lovers to support the craft.
Buy Prints as Wall Art
Wall art comes in many forms, but printed photography is a comparatively cost-effective one that has the power to transform any area of your home. Whether you create a gallery wall with tens of smaller prints, curate a short series of three to five pieces, or opt for one sizeable impactful work of art, wall art defines a space.
Within the realm of photography, there are several genres to choose from, all subject to the individual artist’s photographic vision and editing style. As discussed above, you can find photos printed on various mediums, drastically altering the resulting aesthetic.
The possibilities are endless, and the choices are plentiful.
Buy Prints that Tell A Story
Moreover, a good photograph that speaks to you will show you new things every time you look at it.
If you’ve ever watched a movie for the third or fourth time and noticed things you hadn’t seen the first or even second time watching it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s an element of storytelling that makes exceptional art memorable; even though it hasn’t changed, there’s always something to discover.
When you find pieces that make you look at them in that way, it doesn’t merely decorate. It invigorates.
When people look at my pictures, I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.
– Robert Frank
Buy Prints that Inspire
What’s more, it inspires. Creative or not, everyone thrives on inspiration. It is stimulation from within – internal motivation. That mean’s that it doesn’t need replenishment from external sources.
Art has the power to inspire your best self. That is priceless. Sure, you can save a photo as your background, look at in on your screens for a split second, and feel inspired for a split second. Uninterrupted and unobstructed in your home – your safe, secure space – art will create that inspiring sensation all around you.
A picture says a thousand words. Save your backgrounds for motivational quotes. Save your walls for inspirational art.
Why you should buy prints.
There is a place for items that add emotional value to your life. These are a few reasons I believe it’s still worth your money to buy a photographer’s prints.
If you treat them well, they will last for ages, even increasing in value over time. They can travel with you through life, becoming collector’s items, more precious to you than any digital file could be. Buying prints means supporting the artist’s work, respecting, and appreciating the full creative process involved in photography. Finally, the most influential art pieces in your home are the pieces that inspire you and narrate a new version of the story every time you look at it.
Art is a powerful cultural influence of society, and it’s not reserved for the rich, famous, or royal. Everyone can enjoy the beauty of a printed photograph.