If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember me Instagram story-ing (is that a thing?) about a month ago while I visited my friend, Sam, on the opening day of his brand new print studio. Shoebox Studio was born after a short lifetime course of events which led him back to where he started.
Sam was a few years ahead of me in high school and we met through our school’s leadership camp. He was also my preceeding yearbook editior, in which I had very large shoes to fill. Get this, from photography high school pass-time while studying in the sciences, Sam switched course and went off to university for Classical Studies at Queens. This lead to him working at archaeological excavation sites in Europe, then leading him to return home and attend the Applied Museum Studies program at Algonquin College. After working at Ottawa museums working on artifact preservation – he fell round circle back into his love of photography while combining his lifetime education.
Shoebox Studio is a fine art printing and photo resortation studio. They specialize in archival quality prints, art reproduction, negative film scanning, and old photograph resortation. Shoebox Studio is a home for artists and archiving, providing an intimate and collaborative approach to printing. The artist and the printer work together to capture the agency and authenticity of the piece.
I am so excited to see a place like this back in Ottawa since many of our print shops have closed down! Yes, digital photography is hugely convenient, but there is still a time, place, and need for prints and heirlooms as digital medias change and evolve throughout the years. Do you know what’s on that floppy disk in the back of your drawer? Can you check? Get your important work preserved before you lose it.
Congrams Sam!! Can’t wait to see what comes of this amazing venture!!
