Behind the Press

Posted by Samantha Pizana Salayandia in Santa Fe

When 70,000 visitors per year visit the same place—a world placed in the 19th centurywhere working machinery clanks and the smell of fresh ink hangs in the air—the main attraction can hide the people behind the scenery.

Tom Leech has worked at The Press of the Palace of the Governors since he was 16; he says that press is his only true love, which is clear by the passion he brings when explaining the printing process.

“I lived next to a library when I was young and grew to love books. When I was in junior high I took an Industrial Arts Class and printing was part of it. It was then I said, ‘Please God, don’t let me be a printer.’ Later when I said, ‘Please God, I need a job I got a job with a printing company and that’s how it all began. With my arts background one thing led to the other.'”

The following photo essay shows the printing process, and some of its results.

“When people see something printed they only see the type or image,” Leech notes. “They don’t realize the importance of the paper being used.”