For those of you luckily enough to live near Seattle and will be able to attend the upcoming Toy Photography exhibition, you are in for a real treat. All three of the exhibiting artists prescribe to that popular slogan “Go Big or Go Home”. So when we originally talked about what size to print our photographs, it was unanimous that we would all go large.
In an age when the majority of photography viewing is done on a small screen like a phone, tablet and occasionally a large computer screen, we have forgotten (or never experienced) the joy of seeing an image large. So large that you see the grain pulsating, the snow sparkle and thousands of gradations of green.
Even though I knew Boris and Vesa where going to print their images large, they surprised me with how big they were willing to go. So large in fact that I had to ask Boris how the heck he thought I was going to move his prints around? Not everyone has a car that will fit a print 28″ x 96″ . (If you don’t know how big that is, think 1/2 of a 4′ x 8′ piece of plywood.) Lucky for him I have a car for every occasion.
When Boris first posted “The Dark Knight” on Instagram we only saw it in sections; each panel a different piece of the puzzle. This is going to be a rare opportunity to see this image as the artist has always intended. I’m very excited for him (and me)!
Vesa went the extra mile and dug into his original RAW files and reworked all the images for this exhibition. As the only one who has seen a hint of the results, I can assure you it was worth the extra effort. Images that were once a monochromatic blue/black have a subtlety of color not hinted at before. It is as if the last remnants of the setting sun left a faint glow on the ships pictured; breathtaking.
I myself, am no stranger to large images; I have always been drawn to oversized prints. I have chafed at the artificial constraints of Instagram where everything is square, small and can’t be enlarged. To have this opportunity to print my images as I have always intended, large and atmospheric, is a joy beyond compare. Each print is simply framed with no mat or glass; just a large frame surrounding each image. As Bryan was quick to observe, they are like windows into another world. This was the perfect description since I am merely a voyeur into the magical plastic world of the LEGO mini figure.
If you are lucky enough to have the chance to exhibit your own work, I want to encourage you to go big. In this fast past world of quick photos and insta mentality, give your viewer something different. An image that will make them stop and notice how beautiful a well crafted photo can be.
