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Borders around black & white prints

cliveh

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When and at what thickness and tone do you put a border around a black & white print? I have never really thought about this before, but tend to always use black and put stronger (thicker) borders around softer prints and less around prints with more contrast. But the graphic content also comes into play, as does the context, so quite a difficult question.
 
I don't show the rebate of the negative as a border. I don't consider a print finished until it's mounted and matted. I use the sizes recommended by Bruce Barnbaum:

"Smaller than 8x10 on 11x14 matboard, 8x10 on 14x17 matboard, 11x14 on 16x20 matboard (although he prefers the proportion of a 17x20 mat), and 16x20 on 22x28 board (although he prefers 24x28)."

I use the same color of off-white mat boards for everything and float mount the prints with a 3/8" space for smaller prints and 1/2" for large prints.
 
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Are you using "border" in the same way that many use "mat"?
Like these:
 
I like there to be something there to outline the image area, and to my eyes a black border somehow fixes the tonal range of the image by providing a reference.

So when I scan negatives to share online I like to add a very thin border digitally. For darkroom prints, I almost always print full-frame, but I don’t print the rebate (in fact, a hair’s breadth of the image area all round is cropped off by my glassless negative carrier). I’ve never perfected the art of adding a clean uniform printed black border, so I use an overmat and a black frame to provide that isolating border and reference tone. That seems to work for me.

Personally, I like to standardise the procedure for all my photos, regardless of content, but I do understand your point about strong and soft images.
 
If I am framing a very high key (mostly white) image I might use a white mat but with black core that provides a black outline around the image and helps separate it from the white mat. If I am framing a low key (mostly black) image I might use a black mat with a white core that provides a white outline around the image. Of course for most typical B&W I would just use a white mat with a white core.
 
I tried black borders and found they don’t work for me, but of course tastes vary. I trim off the white borders and dry mount to a backer sheet of mat board. The window mat window is larger by about 1cm top, left and right and 1.5cm for the bottom to leave room for a signature.
 

Sort of what I do. Trimming the borders makes dry mounting much easier, as you get a clean even cut of both the print and the mounting tissue. Any damage to the border, the presence of which is necessary due to most easels, is removed.

Precut mats are usually a little larger than the final mounted print. I rationalize this as preventing the mat from touching the print for archival stability. The real reason is so I can use precut mats.

I am aware of the argument to keep print borders so as to absorb damage so the print area doesn't; here the mounting board does the same.

My practices evolved mostly due to convenience, practicality, and cheapness. Now, I can revisit my choices, but these early decisions still predominate.
 
I just laid open the key to determine if a print is an open composition or a closed composition and pushed the wrong bloody button instead of "Post reply".

I'll not write that up again tonight, so I simply suggest you do some graphic arts searches and read up on how to identify them and when and how they are best used.

Look under beginners drawing and painting lessons and, if you get it and know when and when not to apply those techniques to your photography, you'll be all set.

Cheers, All
 
I love to see a Stouffer scale and brush marks in the black margins.
 
I print with boarders when I want a professional framer to have the flexibility of including the boarders for the best presentation. Often I will put my signature, date and location of the subject in the boarder.
 
A technical pen with India ink, a straightedge with a beveled lip to raise it off the surface, a steady hand and some practice.
 
Seems to me that framing has been almost universal in the art world, and I believe it's quite typical that it was/is not done or overseen by the artist. (Perhaps because it's so darn' expensive?) Modern art displayed unframed in galleries is almost always hung on a large expanse of white wall. So I'm pushed to the conclusion that the main function of border, matt and frame is to isolate the image from its surroundings, irrespective of whether the composition is closed or open. Are you suggesting something different?
 
snusmumriken said:
So I'm pushed to the conclusion that the main function of border, matt and frame is to isolate the image from its surroundings, irrespective of whether the composition is closed or open.
Click to expand...

This is a very good conclusion, which I would agree with.
 

As a example I have photographs I took in Yosemite with snow in the foreground that goes to the edge of the frame. In that case having the boarder showing, demarks the edge of the frame with the same and different tones.
 

In addition to the aesthetic reasons, framing is also to provide protection for the image from air borne contaminants, light energy, and prying fingers and dust.

For gallery style framing, especially of fine art photography, the basic idea is a simple black frame with white mat, to isolate the image from its surroundings. In the case of more traditional framing, the choice of mat colors, frame color, shape of frame are all taken into account to be an extension of the artwork. For instance, a common practice is to take a color that is present in the art and use that for a color of one of the mats to help make it pop more. The framing style can also be used to integrate the artwork into the room where it will be displayed by helping it to match the decor.
 
We are a sad exhausted lot. It wasn’t so many years ago (or was it?) that posting this topic would’ve been like throwing steak into the lion’s den. Purists insisting borders detract from the image. Purists insisting that cropping is evil and printed rebates show fidelity to the negative. It’s contrived! No, it’s organic! No: Pretentious! People hating on Avedon, or else putting him on a pedestal. And that’s before talking about matting and framing and glazing.

I had the popcorn ready to go. What happened?
 
What in perhaps our side of the pond is called Passepartout (mat)?

Although I have framed for local exhibition and gifts, I have never deviated from white to off-white mats. Got to confess that for color (hybrid) prints I usually make do with mass market (Ikea type) frames that come with a mat that tends to be very white; The off-white is whichever is being used at the time and I purchase off someone else in the photo club. The thickness has been between 2-4mm.
Last time I did framing it was 30x40cm (lith) prints and it went nicely with a custom cut off white mat. Tried in one of the mass market frames and the mat was too white.
I have considered to use black mat, specially for Color or low key B&W.
Rolleiflexible said:
Purists insisting borders detract from the image. Purists insisting that cropping is evil and printed rebates show fidelity to the negative.
Click to expand...
Lately I have warmed up to include the whole rebate (6x9 negative 120) in 18x24cm RC workprints and I realised that I can do that as I am using a LF glass carrier. It actually fits very very well to the paper. Even done it for some lith prints.
And I personally tend to maximise the area printed, with a border that is at most 3-5cm. Film and paper are not cheap nowadays, I paid for that real estate!

At least in some circles it's all the rage to include the rebates of film scans!
 
Having read your post, I had to grin this morning when I saw the framing style of this street exhibition, on Instagram. I could imagine forum members choking on their breakfast.
 
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