If you can’t print it well, print it big, or The Fool’s Guide to Success

Years ago, when I was a photo student at RIT, there was a sort of underground dictum that went something like, “if you can’t make it good, make it big.” This was typically a sort of misguided approach to trying to salvage a bad print or image. You can’t argue with the idea that big prints are impressive when done well, however a big print of an image that lacks power, drama, interest or insight is just a big print. On the other hand, a big print of a powerful image can be all that much more powerful, captivating and interesting. Size does matter but not nearly as much as content or quality. Smaller prints used to be much more common in galleries, museums and other venues. The emergence of inkjet has allowed us to create high quality small and big images at reasonable prices on both “desktop” and large format professional printers.

While many audiences have responded to greenphotoprint.com’s green approach, the artists and photographers we work with remind us every day that while “green is nice, quality is paramount.” That’s why I strive every day to be the best printer I can be. Quality, whether small or large, in ideas and prints, is paramount. Green is growing in importance every day. And as more images get bigger and bigger, the green aspect grows in importance. However, we will never sacrifice quality to be green in fine art, photographic or commercial applications, small or large. Fact is, museum, gallery, photographer, artist or business, you can have both.

Does goodwill make for good business?

Since beginning EcoVisual Communications and greenphotoprint.com I have received countless emails and phone calls from people who don’t even know me wishing me well, some from distant shores. The outpouring of responses to our story has been completely inspiring. We’ve been fortunate in this economic climate to have some great projects, not only on the printing side, but in the sale and exhibition of some of my original work too. This is always gratifying.
The real test for us will be whether or not we can convert this outpouring of goodwill to actual ongoing sales of prints, consulting on green communications or other services. So far things are encouraging but we’re still a ways from anything that could be considered to be a business success. Time will tell…

In the meantime, we were just notified that EcoVisual Communications and, specifically, greenphotoprint.com have been awarded semifinalist status in Idea Cafe's 2009 Entrepreneurial Spirit grant awards. Humbled and honored to get this far…

More 7s

More Older Sevens - Images 7-inches or Less

Older Sevens - Images 7-inches or Less

Sevens

A few years ago, I decided to bring a small digital camera along whenever I could do so without too much inconvenience. Those of us involved in professional imaging are typically pretty demanding when it comes to what we produce. However lugging a high resolution DSLR around, plus lenses, isn't usually either convenient or fun.

One of my favorite quotes about photography is "The picture you take with the camera you have is always better than the one you miss with the camera you don't have." With this idea in mind, I decided to create a small, ongoing portfolio of images of less than seven inches in any dimension. Given that I print large images, some 44-inches wide, for a living, the idea of small images has its appeal for a personal project. I will be posting these images from time to time and I hope you enjoy them. As I've said about being green, even the small steps can make a difference.

Here's the first of, hopefully, many "sevens" to come, taken in a town that has become an American icon.