Orms Staff Interview: Lauren Smit

If you’ve been to Orms you probably know we have quite a big team of people here, some you might already know, others are a bit more behind the scenes. So we’ve decided to continue our quest to help you meet everyone. Today we are chatting with Lauren Smit, one of our print specialist at Orms Print Room & Framing. In order to introduce her, we sat down and asked her some questions.

Hi Lauren, please tell us a little about yourself.

Hello! I am a 27 year old born and raised Capetonian, with an exceptional love for photography and adventure. I started my photographic journey in 2007 at Prestige Academy, where I graduated top of my class 2 years later completing a BTEC Diploma in Photography.

Film occupied the entire first year of my course, and there was just something so magical about being in the darkroom and developing my own images, that I knew this would be my life.

Fantastic, so when did you start at Orms and what is it that you do here? 

I have been working at Orms for 5 years, 1 day, 1 hour and 17 minutes (to be exact).  I’m a Fine Art Specialist and entails consulting with clients, editing as well as printing.

How did you get into Fine Art Printing specifically? Did it happen by chance or was it something that you had a particular interest in?

I have always been interested in Photography, having studied it, but my love and appreciation for printing only came much later. After college I started working at a Foto First to gain experience and did a bit of freelancing on the side.  Mall hours were a killer, so I left Foto First and decided to wonder around Europe for a month.

Upon my return to Cape Town, I had the opportunity to be the band photographer for a band called Pretty Dirty. By chance, the bassist happened to be the Marketing Manager at Orms at the time and the Fine Art Printing position had just become available – The rest is history.

For those or our readers who aren’t quite sure what Fine Art Printing is, could you maybe tell us a bit about it? 

Fine Art printing is a specialised way of printing on various types of archival paper surfaces, using archival pigment based inks. It differs from traditional printing in that archival inks are used instead of chemicals. The main variable when choosing this method, would be choosing your media.  We have a wide variety of paper options, differing in weight, texture and colour undertone.

Each paper offers a different look to the various types of photography; from muted prints on matte paper surfaces for a fine art feel, to stark contrasting black and white prints on our photo resembling media.

Can anyone have their work printed in this way? Perhaps you have some tips for newcomers to the world of fine art printing. What should they know before they bring their images in?

Printing is for any and everyone, regardless if you’re just wanting family vacation photographs printed, or if you’re printing your 3rd Solo Exhibition. If you’re a newcomer to the world of printing, the process can be quite daunting, with all the options available.  However, it is our job here at Orms, to guide you into making the best decision possible for whatever your printing needs are.

We have a range of samples for you to come in store to view, and if I am not available, one of our printing consultants will be more than willing to sit down with you to assist. I highly recommend running tests, as it is almost impossible to choose a paper surface first time round and to know what the final print will come out like due to different screen and printer calibrations.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

The fortune cookie I bought last week said, “It’s wiser to receive advice, than to give advice”, so I’m going to go with that.

What can’t you do without?

My two beautiful dogs, road trips with my close friends, an ice cold beer and a good surf.

And finally, what superpower would you have and why?

I’d probably go with healing, because I’m the most accident prone person I know.