Print versus Social Media!

Last month I opened a new exhibition of my portfolio at The Red Lion in Wisnford, Cheshire. When collecting the canvas prints from the printers Lj's Wall Art (6 whopping A0) I was excited to see them and pleasantly surprised! I had seen the portfolio so many times through posting on social media pages such as Facebook, in digital slide shows at events and of course in the process of editing them after the shoot! But nothing could take away the fact that seeing the images in physical print presented me with a whole new level of appreciation!

So many people in this modern age take images on digital cameras and upload and share to their friends and the masses. This got me wondering have the images themselves just like the music we listen to on our ipods and through YouTube become somewhat disposable, throw away and less valued? Looking at the prints in front of me made me realise the whole reason we take photographs.... to have them printed!

I remember loving watching slide shows of transparencies on a projector with my grandparents when we were kids. We loved seeing everything in its entirety including the out-takes which were printed regardless as there was no such thing as a delete button. Photograph albums were something as a family we enjoyed flicking through together. In fact it was only the other night I was going through my grandma's albums whilst learning more about my dads side of the family as far back as my great, great grandparents.

When I first started using a camera I used 35mm film and remember the excitement of waiting to get the film back from the developers to see the results! I always loved Polaroid cameras for their instant image (just like digital) but you got to keep the print! Buying vinyl had the same feeling too. When a new album was released by your favourite artist nothing beat the smell of the packaging, the artwork (and lyrics if you were lucky!) all this before you even put the needle on the record!

The first time I saw Van Gogh's Starry night was in the Musée d'Orsay, during a college art trip to Paris. I was wandering around looking for the Degas Ballerinas and by accident bumped into Starry night and as I turned round it literally took my breath away! I had seen it so many times in print in books at college but to see it in real life, the colours and textures brought a whole new level of love for art!

Don’t get me wrong I love the fact that images and music can be viewed, listened to and stored on social media sites and on our laptops but wonder if that feeling you got of looking through actual prints or holding a new piece of vinyl can ever be replaced?

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