A Note on Prints

Limited edition photographs are a fiction.

I don't mean that in the sense that all photographs are an imposition of the photographer's will on reality, I mean that there is nothing inherently scarce about something that is mechanically reproduced, and any limits on supply – at least durning the artists lifetime – are contrived.

I do not, and will not, produce "Limited Edition" prints.

I create artist-signed photographs in small print runs. The quantity of each run will be stated at the beginning, and the price for those prints is fixed. When that run of prints has sold out, I may then offer an additional run, but the price will be approximately fifty percent higher with each edition. This way my photographs remain accessible, popular prints go up in value for those who collect them, and I'm able to incorporate improvements in the process in a way that's fair to both current and future owners.

I do also offer photographs through print-on-demand services. These prints are not produced under my control, and I neither inspect nor sign them, so they are offered on an ongoing basis at a lower price. Finally, from time to time there may even be "special editions" that I print and sell under different conditions, but as exceptions these will always be distinct from my print edition photographs in some way.


Comments, questions, thoughts? You can find me on Twitter or via e-mail.

Rule of Third

It's November, so it must be time to redo my website.

Welcome to the third redesign of matthewpiers.com. I've done away with the gallery-style website that most photographers use, but then I've never been overly concerned with doing what other photographers like to do. It's time to branch out and bring a little more personality to the process.

So the Matthew Piers Photography website – I'd like to thank my mother for giving me an unusual middle name – is relaunching as a blog and expanding its scope. Photography is going to always be central to its content, as it's central to my life, but this will no longer be just a wordless repository for photos.

For convenience I plan on using a few categories to sort the different themes. "Articles" are the more technical or introspective essays that don't relate directly to an image. The "Commercial" tag is reserved for photos that I take for someone else, and the thoughts that go along with them. "Personal" is for my own work, whether it's a few random thoughts, a photo, or notes on a project; posts that include photos will also be tagged accordingly. Finally, "Prints" will tag any artwork that I have for sale. Very few images will make it through the filters to reach this stage, so I tend to be fond of it.

More to come.