Fine Art Prints
Why printing
the importance of prints
If I asked you to retrieve that photo taken 10 years ago with your smartphone, would you immediately be able to? Did it ever happen that you couldn’t remember what device (cell phone, hard drive, thumb drive, CD..) you might have saved it on? Have you ever even lost or forgotten it? Digital memories are liquid, and the same applies precisely to the difference between a taken image and a photograph: we are induced to a liquid use of images, very easy to make them and very easy to forget .
Photography by definition is printed, physical, and carries with it visual, tactile and olfactory sensations that reflect the time in which it was made. Try to think about what it feels like when you take an old family photo to figure out what I want to say. And then a printed photograph will always be there where you know when you want to see it again, and it will stay for generations to come. Our children are at risk of not being able to enjoy this emotional privilege if we just immortalize our present on digital files.
The Fine Art Process
details are everything
As with all important things, even an important photograph needs care. Before the advent of photography, for example, those who could afford it even hired a painter to draw a portrait. The best way we have today to make a photograph with care is the so-called Fine Art process. The fine art photographer follows a creative process that starts from the shot, in which the lights, the subject and the background are carefully positioned to obtain an excellent starting point. Then there is post-production, where the image is cleaned and enhanced. In all this the experience and creativity of the photographer are essential for the result that will come out.
The last step is printing. A Fine Art print must be able to faithfully return every effort that has been made so far to create a photograph of the highest quality. It must have a great ability to reproduce lights, colors, shades, contrasts and details, even and especially in the shadow areas, and must make sure that all this lasts longer. Have you ever printed a photo with your printer using sub-mark inks? How did those colors become after some time? Here, the exact opposite. There are two factors for high-quality printing: the paper and the printer, especially the inks used.
How fine art prints
are made
Papers
Fine art papers are a universe, depending on the surface (smooth, rough, glossy, opaque…) but they are all made with excellent cellulose or better still in pure cotton and resins that control the absorption of the ink. Believe me, by printing on five different cards, from cheap to very expensive, or choosing different surfaces, you will really feel like you have different photos.
The prints I make are on high-quality professional 100% cotton paper with a smooth matte finish. This makes the photographs very clean, delicate to the touch, with images that are soft but at the same time precise in detail and nuance.
Inks and Printers
Inks are also a universe and fall into two broad categories: dye and pigmented. The former are composed of chemical dyes dissolved in a liquid, which are sprayed on and then absorbed by the paper. If the paper is not of quality these will expand between its fibers. Being chemical, then, if they are not quality, they will tend to change over time.
The latter, on the other hand, are composed of solid particles, small grains of powder suspended in a liquid. This way they do not penetrate the fibers of the paper and will have exceptional fade resistance. The best professional fine art printers use this second method for ink. In addition, to have very high color accuracy, they have at least 6-8 different ink cartridges or even 12, like the one I use.
More about
Family Photos?
More about
Printed Portraits?
