Prints & Process · July 21, 2026 · 4 min read
Why I still print my work
A photograph on a screen is a rehearsal. Paper is the performance. Notes on paper choice, size, and judging an image with your hands.
A file on a bright screen flatters everything. Paper is honest. Tones you thought were separated collapse, a shadow you liked goes muddy, and a frame you were unsure about suddenly makes complete sense at sixteen by twenty.
Paper changes the picture
A matte cotton rag calms a busy frame and suits soft coastal light. A lightly textured lustre holds detail and keeps the deep tones in a desert or forest image from going flat. I will often make small test prints on both before committing.
If a print does not hold your attention from across the room, the size is wrong or the picture is.
Judging size with your hands
Some photographs want to be intimate and some want to fill a wall. The only reliable way to know is to hold the small print, then stand back from the large one. Guessing from a screen has never worked for me.
Every print that leaves here is checked in daylight before it is packed. If I would not hang it, it does not ship.