Seeing yourself in black and white print – my experience with physical publishing

My first taste of seeing my name attached to my own work came early this year, from a much smaller, but much more curated and intentional paper – The New Paltz Photoworks (NPPW). This is a dedicated photography paper that’s printed via traditional printing press in upstate New York in the small town of New Paltz. It’s a student-run newspaper that prints around 3,000 copies every quarter, sent across the USA and also to a handful of countries across the globe.

As a writer, I try to look for every opportunity to see my name attached to something, to be able to show others the work I’ve put in. Whether it’s been writing articles for professional wrestling newsletters to helping out in the works of final-year projects of AUB students, I want to get myself known in as many places as possible.

According to its founder, Ryan Kraus, NPPW was created to “connect artists from across the world with viewers both near and far.” A fitting place to see my name in black and white ink – I’d been reading this paper for a while now, and thought it was a perfect place to start my journey of publishing. My goal throughout 2026 has been to put myself out there, writing and getting my name shown! This was the first step towards doing that.

However, there’s a challenge when you read a photography newspaper. It doesn’t feature many words.

That’s the thing with photography – they like their pictures.

Not a problem, though! When I first applied to AUB, I was struggling to decide between Photography or Creative Writing (and you can see where I ended up). I decided that my interest in photography and badly developed 35 mm film photos could probably be combined with my skills as a writer, and if I wanted to achieve my goals, I had to have some confidence.

This was something outside my comfort zone, which meant I had to try it – of course. So, the decision was made, and my first step was to approach NPPW’s founder Ryan, and send him a proposal.

I told him about my goal for this year, and while I knew there was very little writing in the NPPW newspaper, I'd be happy to write anything they requested. I re-wrote it a few times, hesitated and wondered if I should even send the message, before I got a bit of a grip and just… sent the message. I sat and stared at it, wondering if it would even get seen.

I anticipated to wait days, bite my nails with anxiety and see if my efforts were wasted. I prepared for the worst, but what I received was quite the opposite. Not even 45 minutes later, I got an enthusiastic message back:

Hi! Yes I would absolutely love this! I’ve been trying to get more writing in the paper! What do you have in mind?

I was shocked, not only was my message replied to, but I was successful! The anxiety was for nothing, the preparation unnecessary. I got what I had set out to achieve, and in record time. My desire to get my name in print had been actualised. All I needed now was an article…

Luckily, I knew exactly what I wanted to talk about. A few weeks previously, I’d gone to an event at TheGallery at AUB including the artist behind their featured exhibition Andy Earl: See or be Seen – a conversation with Andy Earl, acclaimed photographer, filmmaker, artist and AUB Honorary Fellow.

Andy is an incredible man, responsible for a handful of some of pop culture's most iconic album covers, but also a wonderful selection of landscapes and stills. Whether he was talking about Madonna, his three-minute shoot with Prince, or the many Q Magazine covers he’d shot, I found everything he had to say about photography fascinating. His main approach seemed to be about intentionality, which was required with film rolls of limited capacity.

Andy's belief is to be slower with what you do, look out for the colours and the positioning, have a style that becomes who you are as an artist. His last comment stuck with me the most however. Despite countless pictures with these world-famous musicians and celebrities, he said, "the only thing I've got to sell is my imagination."

This was a perfect story for the newspaper. Something that involved photography, imagination, artists and the creative process. I began immediately, and the final product is something that I’m extremely proud of, and can hold in my hands, touch my name on the paper, and shove it in the face of anybody listening.

The most valuable skill I’ve been able to develop by applying to write for this newspaper has been gaining the confidence and ability to throw myself out there. Starting off small like that has given me a success I can remember, and a contact that has now become a regular part of my writing portfolio.

This opportunity has also given me the direct skills of writing to a prompt. Given this is a photography paper, sticking to the realms of photography, photographers and art based around cameras, I’ve learnt to streamline my focus and apply my own thoughts whilst staying inside a topic, something I definitely struggle with sometimes.

I've been able to really build a strength within this opportunity. My favourite aspect of the work is obviously seeing that final product, holding the print in your hand, and as you engage with the paper, you consider the effect and power of physical touch with art, photography and writing. You truly connect to it. It requires at least some effort, turning the big pages of a newspaper over and taking a look at each picture and word properly, not scrolling on a phone. It feels very meaningful and it’s something I adore about physical print.

With this step into publication, I’m looking forward to see where I go next. With each issue I’ll be able to explore photography in a different way, but outside the paper, what this means for me is unknown. I now have something to show for myself, something I can hand to someone. I plan to take more steps over my third year, applying for paid roles, freelance work and industry roles. I want to see my name in as many places as possible, but I don’t want to sacrifice quality.

None of these ambitions and opportunities would’ve been possible without starting here at AUB, and the skills, confidence, and environment that it cultivates, and thank you to Ryan Kraus just as much, for giving me both a chance, and now a launching pad to rocket off further.