WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF PRINTING AND BEYOND

Vimal Parmar

Yes, I am a printfanatic and even a casual conversation I have with anyone ends up in promoting print. Well, the topic could also be abstract photography or marketing. Or maybe even food. Or road trips. Having spent more than 35 years in the imaging field, I sincerely believe that not only photographers but even the common person, not inclined towards photography, stand to benefit from print. We will talk about this and more in course of time.

Why print? That is what most folks ask. Especially in this digital world. So let me get that off my back first. I believe that the final destination of every good photograph should be a print. An image once visualized and photographed, gets completed only when it is printed. That is the only way to immortalise your image apart from several other benefits. We will go through them one by one.

First and foremost, millions of smartphones are lost or stolen every year. Imagine the number of precious photographs lost. Moreover, storage technologies change over time or the files may get corrupted. In such cases, print is the only proven solution to preserve memories. And a good photo print lasts more than 100 years.

A good print separates a professional photographer from an amateur. Print is unforgiving, so all flaws will get amplified unless your capture is perfect. Further, for a professional photographer, a printed image being tangible, completes an assignment in a noteworthy way.

Not just children, grandparents, and elders in the family love physical photographs over a digital version but just about everybody. If you don't believe me, just print some postcards or create a photo book, courier it to a few of your loved ones, and wait for their reactions.