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Bryan Caporicci

Professional Photographer

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Photography Is Best Enjoyed Offline

Posted: 02/26/2013 12:34 pm

We have so much amazing technology available to us in our digital lifestyle. I have a computer-science background and so I'm a big nerd. I love my techno-gadgets! There are so many great things about living a digital lifestyle -- improved convenience, accessibility and reach for example. We are able to keep in touch and re-connect with friends and family like never before.

That being said, there are still some parts of our lives that deserve to be brought "offline." Relationships, for example. So many of today's teenagers are unable to hold a face-to-face conversation because they're so used to Tweeting and texting their sentiments. What's that going to do for them when they're in front of their future employer for an interview?

Another aspect of our life that deserves to be brought "offline" is photography. Think about it for a minute -- how romantic is it to sit behind a computer screen with your fiancé and look at your engagement pictures? Or how nostalgic is it to sit on the couch with your kids and a laptop to flick through family pictures? Not very...

I still believe that photography is best appreciated and enjoyed only once it is printed, and it's a lost art that we are moving away from. We need to bring it back. We are the most photographed generation, yet we enjoy those photographs the least.

Technology comes and goes. What if all you had from your grandparents' wedding was a floppy disk of their wedding pictures? Would you be able to even look at them today?

A printed portrait hanging in your home is something that you can enjoy every day. An album with vacation pictures is something you can sit on a couch and look back at, without the distraction of Facebook notifications and email apps bouncing on the bottom of your screen.

Looking at photographs in print allows us to slow down and enjoy them on their own and without distraction or limitation.

I created this fun parody video showcasing my point -- imagine a completely digital lifestyle and not being able to enjoy printed photographs? Pretty boring, wouldn't you say? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

 

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We have so much amazing technology available to us in our digital lifestyle. I have a computer-science background and so I'm a big nerd. I love my techno-gadgets! There are so many great things about ...
We have so much amazing technology available to us in our digital lifestyle. I have a computer-science background and so I'm a big nerd. I love my techno-gadgets! There are so many great things about ...
 
 
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David Blumenkrantz
23 Fans
08:37 PM on 03/12/2013
Great article.... I shot film and printed my own photographs for years, and reluctantly switched to digital around 5-6 years ago, mainly because I teach photojournalism at a university and needed to keep up with the latest technologies. There's a lot of good to be said for the quality of digital cameras now, and even the images I've been making with an iPhone are worthy, but I agree that there's nothing like holding a stack of prints in your hands, or even just having your photographs printed in a self-published book, which is so easy to do these days. Although I don't have any problem with the quality of the images, it is kind of sad that most people are content with sharing their photographs exclusively online. Prints, books and exhibitions are still with us....
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Bethany Castaneda
0 Fans
12:38 PM on 03/12/2013
This is SO true...and so perfect. I'm a Creative Memories Consultant and I have made it my personal goal to get a scrapbook in all my friends' homes so they can enjoy their kids' pictures with them.....that grandparents can see their grand kids that are states away. I love what I do and I love that my kids get to look through their books and laugh. An album of pictures is love.
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Rik K
9 Fans
08:05 AM on 02/27/2013
I feel the same way about music. I may acquire it digitally, but it does not become "real" to me until it's burned onto a disc as an "album" and housed in a case with its own artwork and textual information. Only once that's done do I really bond with the music in a meaningful way. If I had to listen to my music simply as a huge collection of listed songs on a hard-drive, I seldom would.

However, I'm a 53 year old man and I'm pretty sure my sentiments are largely generational. That may also be true of Mr Caporicci's feelings about printed photos. Only time will tell I guess.
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Chief Inspector Goole
14 Fans
04:14 AM on 02/27/2013
I was a pro for 25 years but did not make the transition to digital. Looking at digital photos is the worst thing about the medium. For instance, if you look at a gallery of images, it seems you have to adjust the placement of each picture every time, or have the image so small. What a waste of time.

Actually, I think digital imaging should not be called 'photography' but rather 'digitography'. As McCluhan said, the medium is the message.
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Shay5
9 Fans
08:25 PM on 02/26/2013
I thought this was an insightful article. I enjoyed the video. I think I have some wedding pics to print off from cd now.
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Sohail Ahmed
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07:35 PM on 02/26/2013
"If my grandparents wedding was on a floppy disk... I couldn't even view it today" .... wow, that's a pretty neat insight. Theres no doubt that tumblr, flickr and Facebook will soon be like myspace where we don't even remember our login.....

time to go print some pictures-!
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Marion Ambler
546 Fans
06:33 PM on 02/26/2013
My experience printing photos wasn't too successful...I used to print tons of gorgeous photos and send them to my elderly dad, until my sister told me Dad thought all Canada geese looked alike and he didn't need hundreds of goose photos. That kind of dampened my enthusiasm.
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