Small prints, big impacts: why my Canon Ivy travels everywhere with me

Somewhere out there, a stranger is holding one of my photographs. They found it in a little gold envelope on a café table, a park bench or a hostel bookshelf, with a note that says it's theirs to keep.

By Bron · Carry & Kit

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That's the whole idea. Whenever I travel, I print a handful of my photos on a tiny pocket printer and leave them behind for people to find. It costs almost nothing, takes a few minutes, and it has quietly become my favourite part of every trip.

Where the idea came from

I can't take credit for the concept. It came from photographer and filmmaker Peter McKinnon and his "Small Prints, Big Impacts" project, a portable printing kit built around one simple thought: photos are meant to be held, not just scrolled past.

That stuck with me. Most of my photos live on a hard drive or flash past on a screen for half a second. Printing even a few of them, and handing them to someone who wasn't expecting it, felt like giving them a second life. So I put together my own version of the kit.

What's in my kit

The whole setup fits in a jacket pocket. There are just three pieces:

• Canon Ivy mini photo printer. It's about the size of a phone, connects over Bluetooth, and prints from an app straight from my phone. It uses ZINK paper, so there's no ink to carry, and the 2×3-inch prints have a sticky back.
• Mini gold envelopes. I ordered a pack on Amazon. They're small, cheap and catch the eye, which matters when you want someone to actually pick one up.
• Business cards from Canva. I designed them myself on Canva with my contact details, so whoever finds a print knows who took it and where to find more of my work.

One print plus one card slides into each envelope. That's it.

How it works on the road

My routine is simple:

1. Shoot during the day. I photograph whatever catches my eye: streets, people, light, small details.
2. Print in the evening. Back at the hotel or over a coffee, I pick a few favourites and print them on the Ivy. Often they're photos of the very place I'm in.
3. Pack the envelopes. A print and a business card go into each gold envelope.
4. Leave them behind. The next day I leave them where someone will stumble on them: a bench, a bookshop shelf, a café counter, a train seat.

I never wait around to see who picks one up. Not knowing is part of the magic.

Why I keep doing it

A tiny print won't change anyone's life. But it might make someone's afternoon a little brighter, and that's enough for me.

It has changed how I travel, too. I look more carefully, because I'm thinking about which photo I'd want to give away. And every so often, someone sends me a message to say they found one. Those messages are some of the best souvenirs I bring home.

If you've got a pocket printer gathering dust in a drawer, I'd love for you to try this on your next trip. Print a few photos, slip them into envelopes and leave them for strangers. Small prints, big impacts.