Digital BW, The Print

Steve - In my experience, an edition usually refers to a specific image
printed in a specific way and at a specific size.  Some people who make a
small edition of an image and then wish they had made a larger one get
around the issue by producing another print at a different size, etc.

The whole edition thing is a little strange in photography, as I'm sure you
know.  Originally, sets of prints were limited in their numbers because an
etching or engraving plate or a stone for a lithograph wore down as
successive prints were made, so that it simply wasn't possible to go beyond
a certain number of prints before there was a loss in image quality.  With
negatives and digital files, that obviously doesn't happen.  I think it's
more about business than about art - dealers and collectors feel that
something has more value, and can thus be sold for a higher price, if it
exists in limited quantity.

Maybe you've even seen a price structure where the first prints in an
edition sell for a certain amount, and the next ones go for more money as
the edition runs out. Ah, capitalism...


Stephen Petegorsky