Ripped or Stamped: The Architect's Journey
I RECRUITED A FIRING SQUAD,
NOT A PRODUCTION TEAM.
A crew of creatives with one target: me.
Every episode, I'm pushed to the breaking point by photography challenges designed to stretch my skills to their limit. I take the world's most prestigious and notoriously difficult papers and push them to their extreme edge, printing images that could only exist on that one surface.
IF I DON'T SUCCEED,
I HAVE TO RIP MY OWN
ARTWORK IN HALF
ON CAMERA.
No digital backups.
They're deleted the second I print.
If it gets ripped, my precious art is gone forever.
In architecture, the design does not come first.
The material does.
An architect does not sketch freely and then hope steel, concrete, or glass can be forced to comply. The limits of the material shape the structure from the beginning. Ignore that reality, and the building fails.
Ripped or Stamped: The Architect's Journey is built on that same principle.
Great photography should not begin with what looks good on a screen. It should begin with how the final object must exist in the real world. The paper is not a delivery method. It is the material the image is built from.
This series documents what happens when photography is treated like architecture.
By the end of this project, I will have defined The New Standard for Sharp Sighted Photos. Five world-class papers, each pushed to its extreme limits, each chosen to hold my style and leave a legacy.
Everything learned along the way becomes public knowledge.
This is not about aesthetics first. It is about structure, consequence, and respect for materials.
The Architect's Journey.
Rules of
Engagement
Document // ROS-PROTOCOL-01
The Planning Committee
That's you.
You vote on the constraints that make each episode nearly impossible. You decide the conditions that define failure. You set the trap. I execute inside it.
You define the limits.
I build within them.
The B.A.R.
Board of Aesthetic Review
An odd-numbered panel of photographers, printers, designers, and special guests. Their job is not to coddle me and say it's great. Their job is to protect the integrity of the stamp.
Every print is judged as an object, not a concept.
✓ Stamped
A successful print is approved and archived as a | Blueprint.
It is a documented build for that paper. It makes the gallery.
✗ Ripped
A failed print is torn in half on camera, and is classified a | Demolition.
Each half is sealed in a labeled Specimen Bag and confined to the Vault.
Guest
Challenges
A few times in the series, I'll challenge a guest photographer to beat me at my own game. This is not a friendly competition. It is a confrontation of methods.
If you win, I rip my artwork in half, no matter how good it was. No matter if the judges passed it.
Yours takes its place in the gallery and earns half the commission. This isn't just a guest spot—it's a takeover.
This raises the bar for everyone.
Protocol // Confrontation Mode Alpha
Why This Matters.
A Defensible Standard
Build a standard for museum-grade photography that improves every paid client deliverable.
Blueprint Library
Create a public Blueprint Library showing which stories belong on which paper, and why.
Honest Work
Show the real process behind growth, including mistakes, revisions, and hard calls, so other creatives can find their footing too.
The Auction
When the series ends, the stamped prints will be exhibited and auctioned.
You're helping build a public record of how this work is done, the right way.
The Journey
Is Better With Company.
This is an open, living project.
A place for people who care about craft, consequence, and making things that last.
We're not assembling a team.
We're inviting collaborators into the process.
Who This Is For
Photographers who want to test their vision, not just execute it.
Printers who love materials enough to see where they break.
Designers and thinkers who want their fingerprints visible, not buried.
People who can answer honestly, even when the answer is "rip."
What You Take With You
Recognition
Your name lives on the episode. Permanently.
Access
Blueprints, reports, and discoveries. Nothing held back.
Legacy
A documented paper trail of the work you helped shape.
The 7 Chapters
Every episode follows the same ritual. Predictable. High Stakes. Structural.
The Planning Committee
The constraint is set. The trap is laid.
Research & Advice
The paper is analyzed like an architectural material.
Groundbreaking
The shoot happens under real-world physical limits.
Structural Analysis
Editing for the material, not the screen.
The B.A.R. Review
Pre-print critique and structural failure prediction.
Final Inspection
The physical reveal. The first object emerges.
The Verdict
Stamped or Ripped. Archive or Demolition.
Blueprint (Success)
A documented recipe showing the lighting intent, capture decisions, editing approach, print settings, and failure warnings for that specific paper.
Demolition (Failure)
Archived evidence that protects the integrity of the stamp and teaches what doesn't work.
Mastery is not an accident. It's a calculated survival of the physics.
Join The Fight.
Join the Discord
Access the Engine Room
Read the First Blueprint
"Welcome to Ripped or Stamped"
Apply to Join the Crew
Photographers, Printers, Creators Welcome
You're welcome to watch me sweat.
You're even more welcome to make me.