print it baby
a stack of self-portraits, many from my "what is real" series
printing photos used to be the only way to for me to know what my camera captured. now, of course, most of my photos just hang out on my laptop and external harddrives. just waiting around. many don't even get glanced at again, let alone held in my hand or viewed by someone else.
but i am pushing myself to change that.
i used kodak gallery to upload my photos and then had them sent over to a nearby target to be printed. and the quality was all kinds of oh my goodness pretty fantastic. i am looking at my photography in a new way today because i have held my photos and looked at them without distraction. (distraction = oh another email! or wait, why did i have that window open? or what will someone think if i put this photo of me crying on my blog.)
last night, i put several of these self-portaits alongside poetry into a journal that is housing a project i will be sharing at workshops this year. a simple way to remind myself: this is me.
(when is the last time you printed out a few of your photos? do it. i dare you.)
liz lamoreux
Reader Comments (6)
YAY for printing photos!! I get my photos printed EVERY WEEK at professional lab here where I live. It utterly has changed my photography. A printed photo conveys way more than what we see on screen. So I celebrate you, me, and everyone who is stopping to print our photos and take in their amazingness. xoxo
Funny, I find since I went digital, I've shared more about my life in photo than I ever did when it was on film. I find the internet is by far my biggest reason for taking photos.
I am curious: If you edit your photos in Picnic and save them, will they print the way you saved them? I haven't tried to print them yet and wondered it if would even work. If you know, I'd like to know!
I posted some pics on my blog today that I took yesterday with the new camera. I debated sharing a couple of them, then thought what the heck and put them out there. I wanted to share the process and I like them, so who cares if other people don't? That's not the point. We have to stop allowiing our fear about other people's judgements to keep us from celebrating who we are. We give other people too much power in our lives. I am putting that baggage down. Creating a safe space for me to authentically be myself begins with me. If I don't hold that space for myself, no one else will and if I am brave enough to show up in that way, that example that sets silently (and powerfully) gives others permission to do the same.
Hold that space for yourself Liz. All you have to do is claim it.
Oh course they're you. . . you are one of the most authentic women around.
Your stack of self portraits look so enticing on that gorgeous fabric. How I'd love to pick them up and take a peek! Thank you for this reminder ~I miss the feel of a glossy print in my hand.
Liz, I too have been reflecting on how few physical photos I have of recent times. As I was looking through albums of when I small, I realised just how personal those paper photos are, how precious it is to hold them and as you said, actually focus on them without distraction. My grandmother loves receiving 'real' photos as she calls them, she won't stand for this digital nonsense because it doesn't feel right to her. I think she has a point. I'm off to print :)
This. Is. A. Very. Good. Idea.