Printing Photos: The Importance and Difference from a Screen Image

How lucky you are if your parents once printed childhood photos for you. And how wonderful it is to occasionally look through old albums, whether alone or together—it brings up so many emotions. Chances are those photos weren’t taken with the best camera, in an award-winning artistic composition, or at an impressive size. Today, in the era of smartphones, every child has far more photos, with colors sharper and more vibrant than ever before. But will we get the same feeling from these photos? Is there even a connection between printing personal photos and printing artistic photography?

The incredibly fast access we have today to an endless array of stunning images—whether personal or from the world’s best photographers—reduces our excitement about any single photo. This abundance causes us to swipe right and left endlessly, and it’s rare to stop for a moment on something that isn’t a video evoking immediate emotion. In the past, Instagram, for example, was a haven for photographers. Anyone who posted a beautiful photo and tagged it correctly would gain exposure and reach viewers seeking that style. Today, our dopamine levels no longer spike from a picture on our phone screen, no matter how beautiful it is. Now it takes emotional videos for the algorithm to notice your content.

This is the first reason why it’s worth printing photos. On a personal level, bringing an album or a framed photo of a special moment with your loved ones into your home always adds tremendous uniqueness. It becomes a part of your home and doesn’t get lost among thousands of pictures on your phone.

I recommend taking a moment to check how many photos you have in your phone’s “album.” And if you had to choose five photos to print, which ones would you choose? I assume that even though you have hundreds or thousands of photos, you can relatively quickly think of the five favorites you especially love. It’s interesting to consider which special moment you’d choose—a beautiful memory that deeply moves you.

Printed Artistic Photography

Printed artistic photography, usually larger and framed on the wall, influences emotions in a slightly different way. It typically begins with a desire to decorate a particular space and a search for a picture that matches the furniture and general atmosphere in the room. After selecting a photo that you find beautiful, you order it, hang it on the wall, take a few steps back, and only then—a small smile appears as you suddenly see the space more complete. But the magic happens much later.

Time passes, and the photograph in the room remains as it is, while countless conversations, meals, arguments, laughter, and love accumulate around it. Only after a few years can we truly understand. Our brain connects our experiences to what was around us at that time.

How many times, both consciously and unconsciously, have you looked at a picture in your home? How often have you focused on something specific within the photo or just drifted into thoughts while looking at it? Try to think about the home you grew up in—what photographs or paintings do you remember growing up with?

I remember a kind of 3D elephant face hanging on the wall in my father’s study. I always feared and disliked that elephant. In contrast, I loved the large picture in my grandparents’ living room—a vast field of flowers with a small house on the right side.

Today, I want to spend my time at home consciously choosing everything that comes inside. Not to clutter with objects, but only with things I love and that evoke positive emotions.

Of course, artistic photography, printed in high quality, should fulfill our need for a complete home and control over its appearance. This is the main reason I chose to sell prints of my photos. The thought that someone chose an image I created over countless other photographers, hung it on their wall for years, and allowed me to be part of the memories accumulated in such a personal place—it’s a privilege that gives me immense satisfaction, and I’m deeply grateful for every photo that finds its way into a new home.

If you’ve read this far, I hope I’ve sparked some thought and awareness about the visual content you choose to bring into your home. I believe that we shouldn’t rely on material objects, at least as much as possible, but there’s no doubt that giving space to a photo—whether personal or artistic—can change the atmosphere and add positive emotion over time.