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Why Printing your Photographs Matters

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WHY PRINTING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS MATTERS

By: Sophie Walsh, Sophie Ryan Photography | March 27, 2023

Our generation is the most photographed and yet we own the fewest printed images. Despite the 1.8 trillion photos taken by smartphones each year, less than 1 out of every 100,000 ends up in physical form. Why is that? Well, it’s much quicker and less expensive to share a photo on social media rather than to print a photo. We carry a little rectangle with thousands of photos around in our pocket, so why would we even think about going to the hassle of printing one?

Our photographs provide glimpses into our past. They remind us of loved ones we’ve lost, forgotten places, long-remembered feelings, and untold, as well as retold, stories. A camera is one of our only tools to document our children’s growth and milestones. It helps us cherish our closest relationships and to know who we are.

I can vouch that digital images are easily lost, technology is constantly changing and the touch and feel of a real print in a photo album, rather than swiping a screen, is a more genuine experience for you and your children. Our photographs are family heirlooms, they are the first thing we look for when we lose someone or tragedy occurs.

As a kid, one of my favorite things was to go through my mom’s cedar trunk and look through our family photos. Scattered about the bottom and not in any sort of order were my parent’s wedding photos, pictures of me with my grandparents in their old backyard…it gave me a sense of who I am, who my people are and where I came from. According to psychologists, children who grew up in an environment where photos of themselves and those they loved were on display described greater feelings of belonging, a stronger sense of protection, and a higher degree of self-confidence.

It is so important to create something permanent and tactile of our images. We are all guilty of allowing our photos to sit in the cloud, in a digital kind of limbo. We really aren’t sure what technology will look like 5 years from now. Remember storing photos on CDs? Yeah, well me neither. How about floppy discs? Seems ancient, right? In the next few years, USB drives will be on their way out and who knows if we'll ever be able to access our photos, our memories, the only moments of our lives that we have frozen in time.

Print your photos, make photo books or turn them into a canvas; authentic artwork that I can assure you will not see in anyone else’s home. Your kids will love that their everyday moments have been transformed into something special; worthy of display on your walls. In 20 years, your framed photo will still be on your mantle, unlike your digital files that are easily lost or inaccessible because you’ve forgotten your password once again.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
-Aaron Siskind

Sophie Walsh is a local mom and Marin County Lifestyle Photographer/ Owner of Sophie Ryan Photography. She enjoys telling a family’s story through authentic imagery. You can find her most recent work on sophieryanphotography.com or on Instagram at @sophieryanphotography