Cambridge Photography - About Our Photography

At Cambridge Photography, all of our fine art photos are limited editions. What that means is that we will only produce a limited number, usually 250, of each size of a particular fine art photograph. Each fine art print is personally signed by the artist and numbered.

Please remember that fine art photographs are not like etchings. When purchasing an etching, many people know to look for numbered prints from the middle of the print run, as the etching plate wears over the length of the run, often producing the best quality prints in the middle of the run. When it comes to fine art photographs, numbering has no relationship to quality. While there are slight variations between photographic prints, due to the craft nature of producing fine art photographs, the variations are very slight, and are not related to how many photographic prints have been made.

The main reason Cambridge Photography limits editions of fine art photographs is to provide the opportunity for increased value for the fine art collector. By limiting the number of photographs produced, scarcity is insured. You can be sure that you will own one fine art print of only approximately 250 ever produced in a given size.

Cambridge Photography produces all of its fine art photographic prints using archival, museum quality, standards. Archival standards in the production of fine art photographs have recently undergone a major paradigm shift. Just a few years ago fine art photographs were produced using silver emulsion photographic papers. For longevity, Cibachrome® or Ilfochrome® papers were utilized. The finest silver emulsion color photographic prints would last perhaps 50 to 70 years without degradation when stored under ideal conditions.

Today, a revolution in fine art photographs of museum quality is in progress. The new standard is to print archival fine art photographic prints using archival quality, pigment based ink-jet inks. When properly printed, archival ink-jet prints should last between 125 and 250 years without degradation when stored under glass and out of direct sunlight. Today, archival ink-jet prints represent a giant leap in fine art print longevity with no sacrifice of print quality. In fact, the range of acid free, archival, papers available to photographers makes fine art photographic prints more vibrant than ever.

Cambridge Photography limited edition fine art photos are printed using the finest quality pigment inks. All prints are made on acid free papers and are matted using archival mat board and acid free foam backs. Many fine art photographers utilize acid neutralized mat board. However the core of acid neutralized boards will yellow with exposure to light, as only the outer layers are acid neutralized. We think that our fine art customers deserve the highest quality, so we incur the higher cost to produce museum quality fine art photographs. Each fine art photo is signed personally by the artist, numbered and sealed in a clear protective bag.