THE PRINT
When thinking of a tangible photographic vessel, first and foremost the print comes to mind. On most occasions, a print is made up of paper, plus ink or chemicals, which divulge the tones of the image.
The photographic print exists in many forms. The print can be classified as a fine art object, read and commoditised along paintings, sculptures, and more, in an art gallery. The print is innately an historical and cultural artefact, preserving a moment in time on its surface, sometimes created by someone with forethought and sense of archival preservation. The print is taken as authority in the identification of someone on documents such as passports and drivers licences. The physical print is always a tactile, sensory object, it can be owned, given, bought or sold, it can be lost, damaged, or deteriorate over time, and it can also be wholly destroyed. The print is a photograph, a finished image, beyond a negative or digital file, affixed to a surface for future viewing, to reach this process it has often survived rounds of curation and elimination, before being deemed worthy of printing. Printed photographs have traditionally featured as an integral part of our society’s media; in newspapers, magazines and advertisements.
As an object, prints can be owned, distinct from the copyright of the represented image. The owner of a print can choose to keep, give, discard, destroy or sell their photographic prints, each of which can hold sentimental, historical, artistic, educational or financial value.
Photographic prints are delicate objects. Prints can be scratched, smudged, cut, folded, torn, damaged, burned, creased, faded, discoloured, eroded, stained, etcetera. Each change the print is subjected to, whether a mark is added, or a piece is removed, adds to the history of the object.
Although a print is a material and tangible object, it is not eternal. The way in which it survives, and decays, in this world exemplifies wabi-sabi, a Japanese concept embracing impermanence and imperfection. No two objects can ever possess the same space in time and place, or degenerate at the same rate. Prints can yellow or fade, be cut or torn, cared for or discarded, displayed or kept hidden from view – marks left by these encounters reveal the journey of a photographic vessel.
