HP today announced that visitors to the HP stand at photokina 2012 have the opportunity to see how innovative professional photographers can use HP Latex Ink and HP Indigo Press technologies to realise their work.
Photographers, who were previously constrained to the formats available in silver halide production and conventional printing, can now have their images printed for large-scale indoor and outdoor use, or as prints, cards, photobooks and high-quality art books in print runs from a single copy.
Real-world work in action on the HP stand
For the duration of the show, HP is printing and displaying a selection of the work of freelance photographer Franck Vogel on its stand. Based in Paris, Franck Vogel is known for his work on social and environmental issues, and subjects that illustrate the harmonious relationships between nature and man.
"As a photographer, I am now free like never before. Digital printing enables me to expand the media I use to go beyond traditional prints, enabling me to explore greater creativity and expression," Vogel said. "As well as providing additional revenue streams, these technologies provide photographers with other ways to unveil our creative endeavours and reach a far greater number of people.
"In particular the versatility of HP print technologies and the advantages they deliver both from a production and quality aspect, are vital components to realising these possibilities without betraying the integrity of the photographer's original work," he continued.
A collection of 25 framed photographic prints measuring 1m x 0.7m occupy an area dedicated exclusively to one of Vogel's most recent projects, which portrays the daily lives of India's Bishnois people. The large-format prints of Vogel's images were produced using HP Latex Technologies and printed on an HP Designjet Printer. Other stunning images of his are featured throughout the stand - some up to 2m in length - and on a selection of different HP substrates, including HP backlit media.
"Having seen the vivid and intense colours of my original photographs so faithfully produced, I was only too willing to entrust HP to print the shots and display them at the world's leading imaging fair," Vogel explained.
Some of these images, printed on an HP Scitex LX600 Industrial Printer, formed a head-turning ecological-themed large-format poster campaign at the Luxembourg metro station in Paris. During the six-month exhibit, more than 10 million people viewed the posters.
In addition to having his work re-produced as various-sized photographic prints, Vogel's Bishnois photographs will be captured in two limited edition, high-quality books, printed by Blurb on the HP Indigo 7600 Digital Press. Both 45-page and 100-page versions of the book are available at the HP stand.
HP Indigo Digital Presses can achieve silver halide-quality and offer outstanding colour using light cyan, light magenta and light black inks, specially developed for photo applications.
HP Latex Ink technologies produce odourless prints(1) that can be used in enclosed areas and in environments never possible before. The ability of HP Latex Inks to be used on a wide range of substrates also means that photographs can be printed as floor graphics, textiles, and on a broad range of other flexible and rigid materials.
"The vibrancy of the output on show in Cologne is spectacular and doesn't compromise one iota when it comes to harnessing the striking colours and contrasts captured in the original shots," said Vogel.
According to Vogel, the ability to reproduce photographic images in a number of different applications is a welcome opportunity for the photo industry.
HP Australia
www.hp.com.au/graphicarts
