A Celebration of the Yorkshire Dales, through the Printed Photograph
There’s much to forward to at the Yorkshire Dales Landscape Photography Show, but as the show’s organiser, the one thing in particular that I’m eager to see are the photographs in print form. Just like any piece of art, you simply get a richer experience seeing the work in person, rather than second-hand on a bright, electronic display.
The printed image remains, for me at least, the ultimate expression of the photograph. There’s something tactile about the printed image, something about the viewing experience, something about how it’s presented, something even in the reflection of the glass. I’m not alone. While people tend to scroll through electronic images, they stop and look at a print. The print isn’t a dancing set of electronic pixels that ceases to exist the moment the power is cut. The print is real, tangible, it draws you in!
Though I’ve been an admirer of Joe Cornish’s work for many years, it wasn’t until I visited his gallery in Northallerton (now sadly closed) and saw the photographs printed that I really appreciated just how good they were. The same could be said of many photographers I admire, from Anzel Adams to Michael Kenna to Edward Burtynsky. Seeing the work up close, in the flesh, as the photographer intended it to look, is a whole different experience.
Printing is by no means straightforward. There’s a set of technical aspects and skills you need to learn, from colour gamuts to ICC profiles to post processing techniques. Like anything worthwhile it takes time and effort to gain technical and artistic mastery of the medium, but the rewards are all the better for it. The print, especially when printed big, will add a new dimension to your photograph. That depth of field you used all your technical acumen, prowess and ingenuity to achieve, will suddenly leap out; instead of looking at a photograph you’ll be there, walking into the scene. As you study the print more thoroughly hidden details will be revealed, as will the photograph’s strengths (and its flaws). Display it in public and you’ll receive both praise and criticism. Just watching people stop and spend time looking at the print, whilst passing another by, will tell you something about the photograph’s strength and emotional impact. All of this will spur you on. It will make you a better photographer!
Experimenting with different types of paper - matt, gloss, metallic, silk, textured – will “complete” the photograph, enhancing its visual impact, bringing out its understated subtleties, complementing its hues, patterns and texture. I’ve a photograph, Ingleborough Storm, that I only print on baryta paper, the paper helping to emphasise the drama of the scene. Similarly, I only print A Flight of Curlews on a smooth matt paper, which transforms the photograph into something more akin to a fine pencil drawing. And then there’s just the sheer pleasure of the process of printing itself, of watching the print slowly and magically emerge from the printer, of seeing the result of your work, from conception through to finished article, framed and on the wall.
Whether, from the viewers perspective, all of this is explicit in the print I don’t know, but I’m certain that they’ll implicitly understand the care and attention put into the print and, as a direct consequence, sense the quality of the final result.
So, if you want the full experience of Yorkshire Dales landscape through the medium of photography, and to see its features, character and qualities brought to life through the printed image, the only thing to do is to come to Swaledale and visit the show!
More information about the show can be found at www.yorkshiredalesphotographyshow.co.uk.
Footnote
Lately I’ve spent quite some time exploring different papers produced by different manufacturers with the result (from out of nowhere) that I’ve become a Permajet convert. It’s not just been about the quality of the paper (though that’s the starting point), but also due to the conversations I’ve had and services I’ve called on. Their knowledge and passion for paper and printing is second to none, as is their desire to keep on improving the quality of the final result. I’m really pleased this passion and commitment has extended to Permajet’s support for the Yorkshire Dales Landscape Photography Show, which is, at its heart, a celebration of the Yorkshire Dales through the printed image.