It’s a true statement that those of us with the gift of eyesight can really appreciate a beautiful black-and-white photograph. And today, WhiteWall is announcing something that’s promising to be appealing to those of us who have a special affinity for black and white photography. The WhiteWall Black and White UltraHD prints are designed specifically for those of us who love those sharp, crispy black-and-white photos. But the details of these prints are where things get really fascinating.
What to Know About the New WhiteWall Black and White UltraHD Prints
Here are the important details about the new WhiteWall Black and White UltraHD prints:
- These are made on one of three different types of Ilford paper: glossy, matte, or baryte (which is kind of like a soft gloss.)
- The inspiration for the product came from the Leica M Monochrom series of cameras.
- The company invested technology into the make extremely accurate detail reproduction.
- These prints can be made over 7 feet long.
- WhiteWall is promising that they’re completely free of color casts.
- You can give the prints a white border if you wish.
When you make the purchase at WhiteWall’s online store, you just need to check the setting that says “UltraHD sharpness.”
Why Printing is Essential to the Future of Photography
As many of you know who come here every day, we’re one of, if not the most, progressive of the remaining endangered species of photography publications. We’re digital all the way, even with our own app. But we’ve made a zine before and believe strongly in the print. Lots of photographers say that prints are bad for the environment because they cut down on trees. But photo paper often comes from pretty sustainable forests. And more than that, the world has cut back on paper usage overall while e-waste continues to go up.
The print is incredibly important to the future of photography for several reasons. When you’re looking at a photo on a screen, you’re already conditioned to tune it out because of the way that the human mind works with screens these days. On a screen, we’re bombarded by so many different notifications and buzzes that are vying for our attention. This is so much so the point that we forget about what it’s like to tune everything else out. But if you’re looking at a print, you tune everything else out. If you choose to move on quickly from it, that’s your own choice.
People do this in museums because they don’t want to hog the space around an image. But if you ever go to a museum in the off-hours, you have a ton of time to stand there, take in the artwork, ponder it, etc. To do this in public, you have to be a bit more selfish about your real estate space in front of the image. You can’t really do this with a screen in the same way.
Looking at a print is the truest form of looking at images. And while I learned this several years ago, it has only really hit home recently when photography’s identity is constantly trying to be robbed of it as simply just content for social media. Creating content for social media is a never-ending process that’s a stark contrast to seasons of a television show. It’s also a stark contrast to printing your photos and experiencing them in a book, a zine, or simply as wall art.
And with the new WhiteWall Black and White UltraHD prints, you’ve got another chance to make art and not content.