New Paltz Photo Works Celebrates One Year In Print

On Oct. 13, 2023 local photographer Ryan Kraus came together with a small collection of artists and launched the first issue of New Paltz Photo Works (NPPW). The first issue, an eight-page traditional newspaper, featured the black and white photography of five of Kraus’s friends. It was the first of its kind in New Paltz.  

Five issues later, NPPW celebrated its first anniversary with a launch party in the Cronin Art Gallery at Water Street Market on Nov. 2. This party followed the printing of over 1,500 copies of a 40-page newspaper featuring the photography and writings of 22 artists and seven businesses from across the world. It was the largest paper NPPW has put out so far and features the work of prominent photographers such as Sanjay Suchak.  

NPPW combines photography with curated writings from either Kraus or the featured photographers and gives the artists a platform  to see and display their work.“I really wanted to see my work in print, which I think has such a physical value,” Kraus said. “There’s such a feeling … I made this piece of art, and I’m holding it in my hand, instead of on my phone … You can’t find that very much these days, which is super important … when you have your work in your hand it adds so much to your [artistic] process.” 

The gallery displayed all the previous iterations of NPPW, highlighting its growth over the past year. Artists, photographers and supporters of NPPW packed the gallery, including some of the original photographers who helped Kraus launch the paper a year ago. “I know Ryan, and I’m super proud that he has built up the zine,” said Ryan Cronin, owner of the Cronin Arts Gallery.  “It’s a great opportunity for local and even national and global photographers to showcase their work.

“I really never expected it to get this big,” Kraus said. According to the photographer, the paper has come a long way from its first eight-page issue he made with friends. “We kind of just threw it together in three or four weeks.  My grandma was in the paper. She did a little business ad. It was just the people I knew.”  

After the positive feedback from the first issue, Kraus, a third-year visual arts major at SUNY New Paltz, decided to expand the scope of the paper.  “I know a good amount of people in New Paltz, and yes, there’s a lot of photographers, but there’s not a lot that want to print. I was like, let me expand this and make it a bit bigger.”  

According to Kraus, managing expenses has been the biggest challenge of NPPW. The newspaper is freely distributed by Kraus throughout New Paltz and the surrounding areas. Kraus gives copies to any local businesses that want to display the paper and has set up six free-to-access, traditional newspaper boxes throughout New Paltz and Gardiner. Students may recognize them in front of High Dive Tattoo and Piercing and Fighting Spirit Karate. “I think if it’s not free, it becomes less accessible for people. Even if it was $1,” Kraus said. 

An average printing of NPPW costs Kraus between $2,000 and $3,000 and the paper pays for itself through artistic, stylized advertisements published within it, as well as  sliding fees charged to the published artists. “Each page cost me $50 to print,” Kraus said. Artists pick between $50 and $125 for the amount they want to pay. Any profit that is made is reinvested back into the business, going toward the creation of more news boxes, legal fees and the continuation of the paper.  

Kraus launched an Instagram page and used it to reach out to artists from all over the world. For NPPW’s second issue, Kraus reached out to renowned black and white artist John Dragonetti, who agreed to be the featured artist of the issue. “He really helped me grow the paper, I think just because he had a pretty big social media following, and he’s a pro artist when compared to us,” Kraus said. “He has a good eye for work. Having him on board was definitely a big thing.” 

Kraus recruits photographers mainly through social media, reaching out to artists he thinks would be a good fit. One example of this is Sanjay Suchak, an independent photographer from Charlottesville who Kraus contacted after being a fan for years. Kraus interviewed him as the featured artist of the paper’s anniversary issue. Kraus also ships copies of NPPW to galleries, artists and other potentially interested parties all over the country to get the paper in the hands of as many artists as possible.  

Kraus designs each issue on Canva in collaboration with the artists. Each artist designs much of the layout for their own page in the issue. “There’s so many hands on the paper, which I think adds so much to it,” Kraus said. “Having different iterations of people’s touch is super important to the paper itself.”

Allowing the artists to curate their own page in the paper enables each page to act similarly to a gallery. “There’s certain people that want photos to flow in a certain way. I think you can really see how the curation of your page differs between the artists,” Kraus said 

Continuing the NPPW in its physical medium is important for Kraus. “I just enjoy holding a physical piece of work. I think it adds a lot to the meaning of what you’re doing,” Kraus said. He enjoys the idea that print makes the reader slow down and absorb the information more than digital media typically does. “It almost feels like a newspaper is curated for someone to sit down and read.” 

Taking time to examine art in a physical medium also factors into why NPPW publishes only black and white photography. “The black and white really makes me focus on the actual piece of art,” Kraus said. “Color can sometimes add that element of emotion. Where, with a black and white photo, you have to look at the form and the contrast and the depth of field,” Kraus said. 

Kraus’ main goal for NPPW is to keep printing on a consistent schedule. “I don’t want to set too many goals, because I don’t want to have too many expectations of the paper,” Kraus said.  “I think the biggest expectation that I want for the paper is that 20 years down the road it’s still printing no matter what … every three months, no matter what, whether it’s eight pages or whatever, we are going to print,” Kraus said. “There’s so many ideas I have for the paper. It’s honestly too many. It’s crazy.”