A while ago, a friend suggested that I call my prints limited editions. The argument is that I always try to create new work and never go back to old images, therefore I, by default, create limited editions.

A discussion recently prompted someone to say that I cannot have limited editions unless I declare at the outset how many prints I will make of an image. I agree with this sentiment, but it made me think:

1. Do I have the right to destroy beauty?

Lets say, for argument sake, I create something that  is beautiful, for some definition of beauty. Do I have the right to destroy the original (either negative or digital file)? If I created it, it would be quite selfish, but I think I should be able to delete it. In the same way that if I purchased the Mona Lisa, I do have the right to burn it.  Some people might be quite pissed off, I would be depriving human culture of a great work, but I do have the right.

2. What gives me the right to artificially inflate prices by artificially limiting the number of copies of a piece?

If I create a one of a kind something like a painting, any extra copies will not be as good (or at least the same) as the original. The piece with the original brush strokes is unique. The whole argument falls apart for photography*. Each print is the same as the last. Now I know that in 20 years it will be very hard to copy the same printer settings, especially if I am printing on a newer, better printer. but for a short time I should be able to reproduce any print exactly. All I need to do is print the final file. Why should I tell someone that I just sold the last copy and I do not want to print any more? Again it is a decision on my part to not print another copy, not any limitation in the media. To me that sounds selfish. But again, I guess I do have the right to not sell a print.

Digital media has changed a lot of things. Copies are no longer expensive. The only way to create a limited market is to decide to create a limited market. Is this morally right? Is it morally wrong? I don’t know, but I think I will still produce prints from an image for a while, and then no more once I get bored with it….

*An argument could be made that a print from an analogue negative is more unique, especially if there is a lot of burning and dodging of the final print. Other photographic processes may have random uncontrollable elements as well, but I am more concerned with digital, since that is what I shoot.

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