About
I’m Harry, the founder of Stampe, a Norwich-based printing service built to provide the local creative community with premium prints of their work.
Originally from a small village in Suffolk, I moved to Norwich in 2021 to study Photography at NUA. I often struggled to feel completely engaged with the course itself, so I found myself meeting and shooting with different creatives outside of uni instead. Through doing that, I quickly developed a love for the Norwich creative scene - something that has ultimately become the driving force behind Stampe.
During my time studying, I drew a lot of inspiration from late 90s film photography, which hugely influenced the way I approached my own work. I wasn't actually shooting much film at the time (mainly due to a lack of funds), so I'd spend hours in Lightroom trying to create a style that captured some of the feeling I loved in those photographs.
What I've always loved about film is how authentic and tangible it feels. It's probably the same reason I started collecting vinyl, there's something about being able to physically hold something you care about that makes you appreciate it differently.
And I've always felt exactly the same about prints.
From very early on in my photography journey, I was constantly looking for somewhere to print my images. Seeing a photograph physically on paper made it feel more important somehow. I'd look at it for longer, notice things I hadn't noticed on a screen and generally take more pride in the work I'd created.
After finishing uni, I landed a photography job that, unfortunately, seemed to highlight a lot of the things I didn't love about the industry. It pushed me further towards wanting to make images simply because I enjoyed making them, and around this time, the first version of Stampe started to take shape.
The original idea was slightly different. Stampe was going to champion local artists by curating and selling prints of their work. Really, it came from wanting to create physical versions of work from artists I admired and give more attention to the creative community around me.
Eventually, various boring life things meant Stampe ended up on the back burner. But I never really managed to scratch the itch of wanting to create something for a community I'd always wanted to be a bigger part of.
After plenty of conversations with people in the Norwich creative scene, with a special shoutout to David at Just Shoot Film, I decided it was time to bring Stampe back, this time with a slightly different purpose.
I want it to be somewhere you can trust with your work. Somewhere local, approachable and genuinely invested in making sure your images look as good on paper as they do to you on screen.
Because your work deserves to exist somewhere other than your camera roll.