Epson survey: Europeans love photography

According to the survey, which questioned individuals in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, 50 percent of respondents felt a world without photos would be ‘impersonal’, while 49 percent stated it would be ‘sad’. Respondents also agreed that a world without photos would be ‘colorless’ (35 percent), ‘lonely’ (22 percent) and ‘depressing’ (25 percent). In evidence of the importance placed on printed photos, 80 per cent of those questioned kept printed versions of their favorite images.

When respondents were asked to rate five methods of viewing pictures according to their preference, viewing printed photos again came out on top when compared to viewing pictures on the computer screen, mobile telephones, digital cameras or on the television – reflecting further Europeans’ close relationship to hard copy prints.

Despite the fact that 66 percent of all respondents feel happiest when viewing a printed image, and in most cases, print their favorite images, 72 percent of Europeans questioned by Epson still own more digital photographs than printed images. This figure rises to 89 percent amongst the digital-savvy generation of 18 to 20-year-olds. While many of these saved images may not be worth printing, camera users should consider whether they have any digital images in their collection that they would not want to lose in an event of hardware failure or data loss, Epson said.

Jason Savage, Group Product Manager, Consumer Products, Epson Europe, commented: “It’s unlikely that printed photos will ever go out of fashion as the digital era seems to have had little impact on Europeans’ love of owning and sharing printed images. Nevertheless, there is still a small minority who are leaving their images in digital format. These people are running the risk of losing their most treasured images forever in the event of hardware failure, loss or damage.”