Pixiq

How does having your photos printed on glass sound to you? A minimalist photo-and-frame-rolled-into-one deal, if you like. It’s what the guys over at Fracture can do to your pictures. No, there’s no paper involved; the image goes on the glass. No, I’ve not a clue how they do it. But I really wanted to know what they’re like, so I checked them out.

Fracture was dreamed up by Abhi Lokesh and Alex Theodore in summer 2008. They happened to be in Swaziland at the time, but they’re not anymore. Now they’re back in the US and run a very hands-on team of ten, printing, packaging, and mailing people’s photos on glass. No, no robots there. Knowing all these important details, and more – such as Abhi’s love of peanut butter – I sent three of my images for fracturing.

Hanging on the wall, they look as if they're floating

It was all rather easy. You upload your images (or you can email them), you choose the size of your prints (with a handy wineglass for comparison), you edit your pictures a bit if they need it, you select a border from about a billion options if you want one (I didn’t), and then you pay. At $12 for a 10″x8″ fracture, plus shipping, I thought it was quite reasonable. There are plenty of options, though; things start at $8 for a 7″x5″ and go up to $25 for a 14″x11″. They can be square, too. Oh, and then you wait with bated breath for your fractures to arrive.

In its packaging

Taa-dah!

Foamy protection and a hook for hanging

Did I like them? Definitely. The colours are great and when mounted on the wall, which is super-easy as the hook comes along with the picture, it looks as if it’s floating. There’s an option to have them mounted on a stand, too, and that looks pretty cool.

A stand-mounted Fracture, in the living room at the Small Aperture mansion

Would I order some more? Absolutely.

Fracture, pictures printed on glass.