What do you do when you have 20 large-format prints, four cities, two continents, and no budget for crates, cases, or freight? That was the challenge facing Catchlight Foundation and Digital Silver Imaging earlier this year — and the solution turned out to be one of the most elegant exhibition designs we’ve ever put together.
The Foundation and the Ask
Catchlight is an international foundation with an ambitious mission: to advance the power of documentary photography and support the visual storytellers doing that work. Early this year, Catchlight’s VP of Development, Erica Garber, reached out to ask if Digital Silver Imaging could help bring their “Portrait of America” exhibition to life — a collection of images by recent Catchlight Fellows. We said yes without hesitation.
Our involvement came in two ways.
Building an Exhibition That Could Go Anywhere
DSI printed all 20 images pro bono, with paper generously provided by Hahnemühle USA. The prints ranged from 36″ wide to 60″ tall — substantial work that demanded to be seen at scale. The exhibition was scheduled to debut at the Catchlight Storytellers Summit on May 2, 2026 in San Francisco, then travel to Photo London, New York City, and Austin, Texas.
That travel itinerary created a serious problem. Framing, crating, and shipping a show this size across multiple cities and an ocean would have been prohibitively expensive for both organizations. The exhibition needed to move efficiently, affordably, and without risk of damage in transit.
The solution came from DSI’s Aluminum Print Hangers. All 20 prints were rolled into tubes, packed into a single Tenba Transport Rolling Tripod Grip Case — thanks to Peter from Tenba for their generosity in providing a discount — and checked as luggage on commercial flights. No freight forwarder. No crates. No customs nightmares.
At each venue, the prints were light enough to hang with 3M Command Strips, meaning installation required no special equipment or crew. The weight of each print with its Aluminum Print Hanger appears in the chart below.
The result is an exhibition that travels in one rolling case, can be installed in hours, and is built to last. If a print is ever damaged, it can be reprinted and replaced. The “Portrait of America” exhibition can return year after year simply by making new prints — a sustainable model that serves the foundation long into the future.
The Box Set That Moved the Room
Eric and Andrea wanted to do more than print the exhibition. Knowing that the Catchlight Storytellers Summit included a fundraising event, and having seen firsthand how a beautifully presented folio of prints can motivate donors, they proposed creating a folio of prints for the auction.
Erica Garber loved the idea. Nine images from the exhibition were selected and printed 13×19 on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta — a fiber-based paper chosen for its depth, luminosity, and archival quality. Andrea, a former art director, designed a colophon sheet for each set, and the folios were finished with the Catchlight logo. You can see a short video of the assembly process here.
We’ve been asked not to share the final numbers, but the five box sets exceeded expectations at the event. Great photography, beautiful printing, and thoughtful presentation have real value — and donors respond to all three.
View a short video of the folio of prints titled “Portrait of America Box Set”
Why Digital Silver Imaging Does This Work
Eric Luden founded Digital Silver Imaging in 2008, making a commitment to be an active participant in advancing the art and commerce of photography. He and his wife, J. Sybylla Smith, believed from the beginning that their business has a responsibility to that community — not just as a vendor, but as a genuine participant and supporter.
That commitment has taken many forms over the years: pro bono printing for Photoville, support for the Griffin Museum of Photography, partnerships with the Social Documentary Network, exhibitions hosted at the lab, internships for photography students, and donations to organizations ranging from SPE to the Veterans Portrait Project. Catchlight is part of that same continuum.
The “Portrait of America” exhibition and box set are a reminder of what’s possible when creative problem-solving, skilled craftsmanship, and shared values come together. We’re proud to have played a role.
Could your organization benefit from exhibition printing, traveling show solutions, or a folio for your next fundraiser?
Contact Digital Silver Imaging to talk through what’s possible. We work with nonprofits, galleries, and foundations of all sizes.
One of the many nonprofit photography organizations that Digital Silver Imaging supports is the Catchlight Foundation.
The Catchlight Foundation has been providing, through funded grants, documentary photographers to local news organizations around the country. They also sponsor International Fellows with a grant so they may pursue long term documentary projects. Digital Silver Imaging has been supporting Catchlight since the naming of their first International Fellows in 2017.
