The comeback of printed photos

A decade or two ago, people would rush to get their negatives printed, and they would cherish each and every photo, bind them, and beautifully arrange them in photo books. If one was ever lost or found, the feeling was exceptional, and little would make one happier. Today however, no photo can ever be truly lost as all we have to do is scroll down long enough to find it, and although that is not necessarily a bad thing, it lacks the soul and feel once associated with a printed photo.

Social media has made it possible for us to store hundreds, even thousands of pictures without any cost, or losing any space. However, as every picture is relegated to the virtual realm, the weight and meaning of those pictures somehow disintegrates with it. All of this makes 2018 one of the best times to get back into printing photos again.

It makes for one of the most inexpensive gifts. If you have not noticed, giving gifts have become harder as people's choice undergoes constant change, but mostly because they probably already have everything you would want to gift. However, nothing beats a good old framed picture, and it might just be moving enough to even bring out some tears.

Printed photos have a certain significance, which sharing on social media can never provide. Holding a real photo from back in school for example might give you goose bumps, and take you on a trip down memory lane. By comparison, a virtual one would not pack such a punch.

It is, without a doubt the best backup for the times your phone decides to let you down and you end up losing those precious vacation photos. Printing out those special and precious photos mean you are never going to lose them no matter what, whereas technology has a risk of failing you from time to time.

If you have ever sat down with friends or family to go through photo albums, you will notice it will bring up stories, memories, people and so much more. You take minutes to see a picture instead of a few seconds, and time seems to fly by as you do. That is something a digital picture online would never be able to replicate.

A printed photograph is one of the most tangible assets one could have. The weight and feeling of it is something much greater than simply scrolling through truckloads of digital versions of it. We all knew these qualities by heart a while ago, but perhaps somewhere down the line, we seem to have forgotten about these.

It is time the printed photos make a comeback, and for a lot, it already has. More people have actually started to get into this old habit thanks to Instax cameras and portable printers, and we could not be happier to have this tradition back. As we enter a new era, it is nice to be able to hold onto these little pieces of the past.

Photo: Collected