01 logo

You Don't Own Anything in the Digital Age - And Why You Need to Print Your Photos

In the age of streaming and downloading, here's why you need to own physical copies of your memories.

By Grumble BeePublished 5 years ago 3 min read
Like

In the age of streaming and downloading, here's why you need to own physical copies of your memories.

We don't own anything anymore. From phone contracts that you pay for monthly, the battery leased in Tesla cars, rented apartments, to the digital data points kept on us by tech companies. We don't buy music or films anymore, we pay monthly to stream through Spotify or Netflix.

Although we may own the photos we take and upload them to the cloud, we don't actually have anytime access to the photos. The internet is often too slow to load the images, or we lose it in the mass of random selfies and WhatsApp images from group chats that get sent to us daily. If their servers go down, you lose your photos.

What's up with that?

These are images that I've taken, of people that I know, on a camera that I own, but if my cloud storage fails or my internet can't download them, then I can't access them?

I didn't like that.

So I decided to find a solution. The answer? I started printing my photographs.

Moments From Childhood

Norsk Folk Museum, Olso

My mother was an avid photographer, documenting every part of my early childhood, as well as my sister's. As a result there are stacks of photos of my sister and I as kids. There's nothing I enjoy more than slipping the keys to my parent's garage into my pocket, and losing a few hours sifting through old packs of developed films, holding up the reels of negatives to the light, looking through family photo albums, seeing which select few photos made the cut.

But as I observed the passing of the years through the old photographs taken on 35mm film, I realised that there were far fewer photos of my little brother than my sister and I.

Born in 2002, he was born into the world of digital cameras. This means that plenty of photos, maybe even more, were taken of him, but far fewer had been printed. Presumably some have been on lost hard drives or corrupted on a defunct laptop, which is much more likely than my theory that he's the least favourite child.

The Solution

In the age of streaming and downloading, nothing belongs to you. The only way you can truly own an image and preserve that magical feel from flicking through old family photos for years ahead, is to print your photos. These physical manifestations of moments passed are yours, and so long as they're kept out of the sun and dry, they will last for generations.

Below you'll find some tips as to what to do with the photos that you decide to print.

Put them on the wall

Norsk Folk Museum, Oslo

Display your photos. I usually print my photos in the standard 6x4 format, ready for scrapbooking or photo albums. These also work really well on the wall or in photo frames.

However, if there's a photograph that you really love, then print it much bigger, and display it as though it were a piece of art on the wall.

Make an Old Fashioned Photo Album

Norsk Folk Museum, Oslo

Leafing through a hand-picked selection of photographs is way better than scrolling through hundreds of okay images, so make an old fashioned photo album.

You're also less likely to misplace a physical book than you are a file on your computer or hard drive (that is, unless you have crazy levels of digital organisation, and for that, I commend you). You'll relive the memories in making the photo albums, as well as every time you pick them up and flick through.

Gift Photos Instead of Birthday or Xmas Cards

Stave Church, Norsk Folk Museum, Oslo

I've never been much of a fan of these short-lived birthday or Xmas cards, that are in reality relatively pointless and impersonal. You'll always feel bad throwing them away, but they serve no real purpose beyond that moment.

My solution? Give them something that matters. Draw them a picture or illustration if you're creatively inclined, but if not, print a photo or two and write on the back. It's far more thoughtful, and is far more likely to continue to bring joy and good memories.

Digital Organisation

Buy a good hard drive and update it regularly. Always format your memory cards, and organise them into folders with dates and locations. This will make you less likely to lose data and make specific images much easier to find. Invest the time and money, you won't regret it.

So what are you waiting for? Start sifting through photos in your cloud storage and make a file titled 'print'. Print some extra for your brother or best friend. They'll appreciate it more than you know.

All photos in this article are from our trip to Oslo, Norway, in April 2017, all of which I have printed and now live in a photo album that sits on my shelf.
gadgets
Like

About the Creator

Grumble Bee

Grown in the British Isles, exploring beyond.

Photographer // Journalist // Linguist // Environmentalist

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.