What's Your Intent?

Fine art printing and how it may influence your approach.

I recently came across a video by Tomasz Trzebiatowski that I thoroughly enjoyed. It addressed the issue of photographic intent, a concept I've talked about before in this Substack, but more directly applied to the act of photographing than the intent to print. Today I'll switch gears.

What is Intent?

The word intent means different things to different people. It's also a word that, may the photo gods help us, can be easily derailed by the distractions of the modern world. As Robert Burns said: "The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley". Please bear with me as I ruminate (it has to do with fine art printing).

As far as I can tell, intent is an umbrella term that covers two distinct concepts. The first is generalized intent. That may show up as: "My intent is to become a better photographer".

Then there is targeted intent. That might show up as: "Today I will go out and only photograph water scenes".

Both concepts are valid. Some might call these goals or objectives but, personally, I think intent is distinctly different from goals.

My Journey to Intent

For a big chunk of my career, I was a photojournalist on assignment. That leaves little time for what I'd call mindful photography. My intent was focused on delivering what my client needed. I recall a time at National Geographic when I overheard an editor saying to an intern, "Give me photos, not excuses!".

As I evolved into more artistic photo endeavors (possibly a fancy way to say Old Age), I began to slow down, to be more mindful, to extract from the subject every ounce of meaning. My intent went from being a better photographer - that was and is always my goal - to simply creating the most interpretive moment I could possibly squeeze out of the subject at hand to tell the story.

That intent was game changing for me. It allowed me the luxury of not having my finger pressed on the shutter button hoping to get one "gotcha" out of 300 images. It allowed me to look at a scene and say to myself, "Move on; this scene doesn't tell the story you want".

I gave myself permission to reject 'drive-by-shooting' and stay on a subject until I was satisfied. I made sure that I had extra days on my shoots to be deliberate. I waited for the best shot.

The Print

Part of the evolution in my intent was aided by the 18 years that I've had the privilege to work with Bob, my Associate, a master printer with an amazing photographic eye. Over the years, the path I was on began to crystallize.

After almost 50 years, I switched from 35mm to medium format. All well and good, but there was something else that began to percolate in my visual soul. My photographic intent evolved.

Now when I look at the visual story at hand, I don't only think of how to approach it for the story. I approach it for what will eventually be a fine art print. Prints have permanence. It is the final performance of your story, to paraphrase Ansel Adams. I haven't posted to Instagram in many years. I find it demeaning to have someone swipe away in the documented average of 1.9 seconds per image. I know photographers who intentfuly post-process to ramp up saturation, contrast and sharpness to gain precious milliseconds on social media. If people aren't listening, shout louder.

Fine art prints and today's incredible photographic papers engage the viewer. You establish a bond with your audience. Printed and framed appropriately, there is simply no other modality that can compete with a fine art print.

So when I'm in the field, torturing myself with whether or not to work a scene, I remember my intent. I ask myself a simple question: Does this have the potential to make a great print? All internal pressure dissipates. If the answer is no, I move on.

One final note. I truly understand young and mid-career photographers, whether amateur or pro, who must use social media to become known. My comments are really intended (excuse the pun) for those of you who are serious about fine art printing. Syncing intent to final product I believe helps.

I hope my rumination have value for those of you who take fine art printing seriously. I look forward to your comments.

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Workshop Openings

I wanted to alert readers to the availability of one opening left in our Introduction To Fine Art Printing taking place January 18th, 2025. These go quickly as we have a hard limit of 4 participants for each session in order to provide one-on-one attention to every attendee. We just opened this session up but 2 slots are already filled by people that we couldn’t fit in the workshop we held this past weekend. Register at Les’ website and feel free to ask any questions prior to signing up.