THE ROLE OF PAPER
After finishing college, Mateo went on the trip of a lifetime. He had become a nature photographer after a long journey that began when, at his First Communion, a friend of his parents gave him a simple camera with which he took endless photos of everything that caught his eye. Now, having finally earned his business degree, two well-deserved rewards awaited him: a magnificent Canon EOS 4000D, a gift from his parents, and a few days in Sri Lanka—his dream.
He had spent the past year devoting himself with equal passion to preparing for the trip and completing his degree. He was driven by a single goal: to capture the best photographs of Sri Lanka’s stilt fishermen—those lanky men perched on rudimentary wooden stilts, 4 meters high, in the Indian Ocean, harpooning fish to earn their livelihood.
The trip—as fascinating as any visit to the island regions of Asia can be—brought him to the brink of believing that happiness was synonymous with each passing day, as he photographed everything that defined the region known as “the teardrop of India” until, upon arriving in Unawatuna, he felt his heart race at the thought of life’s great opportunities.
He left that place—the world’s largest gathering of stilt fishermen—with more than 900 photographs of twilight scenes, wooden stilts, bare torsos lashed by the tide, feet cracked by salt, and fish—perhaps millions of them—harpooned from the impossible vantage points of those artisans whom he considered heroes.
Back home, the hard work of selecting and editing the hours he had spent on the Asian coast began. It was such a daunting task that he considered it impossible. The fact that he managed to do it had a lot to do with learning that a renowned publication dedicated to nature and travel was holding its annual photography contest—one of the most famous in the world.
He managed it without quite knowing how: ten images that captured, with crystal-clear clarity, a day in the life of one of these men weathered by the sea. They were perfect photographs. They were, as his mentor told him, “the kind of photographs that magazine editors go crazy for.”
Without further delay, Mateo reviewed the contest rules and prepared his entry. Unusually, the contest rules required a specific digital file and also stipulated that entrants “be prepared to submit, if requested, a set of hard copies of the works entered in the contest.” Mateo was so confident that his work would rank highly in the selection process that he decided to take the initiative and request that the series submitted digitally be printed.
He went to a fine art printing studio; there, they took his order and put him in touch with the printmaker, who wanted to speak with him. He thought something was wrong with the file and anxiously waited for the bad news.
- "We really liked your work," the specialist told him
- Thanks, I took them last summer in Sri Lanka –
- This is one of the most interesting submissions we've received in the past two weeks.
- Do you really think so?
- Absolutely. Do you have any specific ideas, technical specifications, or anything in particular?
- To be honest, I haven't really thought much beyond getting a Giclée print. I'd really appreciate some advice—I don't know much about it.
The printmaker then went on at length. Mateo, despite having spent years reading and studying the art of photography, admitted that he was unaware of fundamental aspects of a photographer’s work. He felt more like an amateur than ever.
- "Choosing the right paper can really enhance a photograph"— that was the first thing he heard.
- They are canvases, just like the one Velázquez would use if he wanted to repaint *Las Meninas*.
(Mateo felt overwhelmed when he realized they were comparing his photos to *Las Meninas*, so he listened closely.) The expert, accustomed to technical jargon, carefully explained to him that they were talking about a unique medium, made of natural cotton fibers, unbleached with chlorine, that lasts forever.
- "We could say that the value of a good printed photograph lies in the paper used to make it, because fine art paper captures the nuances of tone and texture in a way that would never be possible with standard photo paper. It’s not for nothing that they call it museum-quality paper," the printer concluded.
They were discussing what is known as ink and pigment absorption: the surface layer of fine art paper is so flawless—thanks to its neutral pH—that the ink adheres completely, even enhancing the visual texture of the photograph. A print that lasts forever—as they say in the world of fine art printing, without any exaggeration.
As they talked, they weighed their options. Each sheet of paper was more delicate and finer than the last, making it almost impossible to choose just one. After much consideration, they settled on Hahnemühle Rag® Baryta 315 g/m² · 100% cotton · white · high gloss, and the printing process began.
Mateo decided to pick up the photos the following afternoon. When he saw them, he knew that something had changed in the way he appreciated photographic quality. Those printed photos were unrecognizably better than his own. Certainly, he thought, the paper he’d chosen had brought out the countless textures and delicate edges from the screen—the very details he’d taken such care to preserve when capturing the image. He was stunned.
The email asking him to send the printed photos as soon as possible, given his status as a semifinalist in the contest, arrived a few weeks later. Mateo read it several times, unable to take his eyes off the photos spread out in his room, protected as if they were gold bars. He felt his pulse quicken and remembered, with gratitude, the infinite kindness of that Sri Lankan fisherman who had allowed him to witness the intimate details of his trade. He set about carefully packing the shipment.
A few days later, an unknown voice called to inform him of the award decision: his photos had won a substantial prize, would be featured in an exhibition at a New York museum, and would be permanently displayed on the website of the prestigious publication.
He had become a renowned photographer.
- "If the ones you sent on paper hadn't been printed on such high-quality paper, the result would have been different, " said the voice on the other end of the phone.
- But the photos…
- They are very good—excellent, in fact—but the paper chosen really brought them to life, and in this kind of competition, that’s just as important as the quality of the work.
So, Mateo’s gratitude will forever include the kind man who had convinced him that the medium on which a work of art is created is an important part of the work itself; after all, he was the one who first convinced him that he was capable of creating works of art; at that moment, he smiled at his sister’s camera.
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