The Digital Gap: Why Printing Your Images is Important

In a world full of ever-changing technologies, when you print your photographs, the only thing you’re going to need are your eyes!!!

When my father died in January 2018, my children gathered at the house to attend his funeral. The day before everyone arrived, I began making a “picture board” for his combined viewing/showing that weekend. I ventured down to the basement to search through the mountain of boxes in search of the ones labeled “Pictures.” (Free Insider Tip: Always label your boxes with their contents!!) Opening the storage boxes revealed gobs of archival boxes, full of documentation of his wonderful life, all sorted by date. The night before the funeral, we all gathered in my living room, after feasting on pizza (of course!), and began looking through them, everyone taking their own stack, sifting through them intently. We took turns exclaiming over certain images that touched our hearts, passing them around the circle of those who knew and loved my dad the most. Everyone took a closer look. We laughed…we cried…we bonded…we remembered. It is a night I will cherish forever, made possible by printed images. Something to touch, hold, connect with…a tactile object that connects you to a time and place that is stored in your heart. This is why printing your images is important.

Fast forward to just recently when my sister and I spent a weekend going through boxes of my parents’ items, including photographs, letters (now that’s a whole other passion that I have…handwriting, but we’ll save that for another time!) and various keepsakes from their lives. While I was familiar with most of the photographs from when my dad passed, this time there were some images I had never seen before! I was like a little child at Christmas opening up gifts, opening each envelope with anticipation of what I might find. And, most of them were in black and white, which as many of my followers know, is my absolute favorite. I could hardly contain myself.

Many of my favorites were the images of my dad during his army days and photos he took of my mother on their honeymoon. They are simply irreplaceable.

My plea to you: Please leave this gift for your family!

A funny little note on one of dad’s images, seen here:

 

My dad wrote on the back of it stating that he took the image by “tying a string to the shutter!” I laughed so hard thinking, “Hey wait, does this mean my dad invented the “SELFIE?!!” 

When we look at a statistic from a survey conducted by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), due to the digital age we are now in, 42% of people in their 30s and 40s may not be able to go searching through boxes of images like my family did that night. This is why we must continue to intentionally print out images from both our professional sessions and from our devices that now hold our entire lives: all these images collectively tell our STORIES. I encourage everyone to keep the FUTURE generations in mind and be sure that you are filling up boxes with photographs that tell your life story.

So, why am I so passionate about printing your images?

• Because our memories fade, but printed photographs remain
• Because photographs are the bridge from our present to our past
• Because prints will not have to complete with technology advancements
• Because at some point, our photographs will be seen as the only item we have left of a special loved one
• Because storing your photographs on computers is risky if there is a hardware failure
• Because we are creating our family legacy when we print photographs
• Because sitting down with your family and reliving all the special and ordinary moments of your life is a priceless experience 
• Because photographs tell our children the story of their past, where they came from and create a sense of belonging.
• Because you don’t need a complicated password to be able to view a photograph!

But mostly, because prints remind us of all the love we have experienced in our lifetime. 

Please don’t let your images live a lonely, digital existence; bring them to life through printing; you’ll be glad you did and so will all those that will come after you; give them the gift of looking back with wonder, love and connection.

This is why I do what I do. This is why printing your images is important.

Thanks for reading, friends!

~Pam