In mid March I once again participated in the HIPA Grand Event. It has been an interesting journey of discovery for me as the 2015 Grand Event Press Conference took the form of a number of moderated panel discussions where opinions were sought on the state of the photography industry and its trials and tribulations.

What happened on that stage in Dubai will undoubtedly herald a ‘Renaissance’ in professional photography. One discussion focussed on the Internet and I drew the attention of the audience to the aftermath of the recent presentation by the acknowledged ‘Father of the internet’, Vint Cerf, now a leading light at Google. He warned of the fragility of solely relying on digital storage and the likelihood of a new ‘Dark Ages’ unless we all invest in making physical copies of documents and images.

Scott Kelby, who had just been honoured by HIPA for his outstanding contributions to Photography and myself jumped on this. The resulting call to action “Make a Print” was vocalised to the attending press. For my part I returned to the UK to initiate dialogues with photographers and http://www.onevisionimaging.com to get the ball rolling. This is not simply a plea to those who feel they are client driven to provide a myriad of digital files that may never see outside the confines of the hard drive, but to get back to what we as Professional Photographers do so well. We have always strived to produce physical evidence in the form of prints, wall potraits, albums and books as ‘legacy’ or ‘heirloom’ products to stand the test of time.

So, I call upon you to make prints of YOUR images through professional Labs to ensure the visibility of our art and craft for generations to come and put the true value back into Professional Photography.