Competitions

[Snapper]

What is the preferred choice of paper when it comes to submitting for competitions? If a competiton states, for example, that prints should be 16x20 and unmounted, what's best to use - FB or RC? At that size, FB is going to be hard to get absolutely flat with mounting to board, but do judges expect to see FB rather than RC? I prefer FB, but that's when I'm mounting and framing. Also, gloss or matt finish?

 

[geraldatwork]

I almost always get better looking prints on fiber. My personal choice is glossy (Ilford MG) but that is up to you. See if you can get access to a dry mount press to flatten the prints. Borrow, rent or maybe work out a deal with a business that frames pictures just to flatten your prints for a fee.

 

[jovo]

It would seem to me that the best materials to use are the ones that make the print look its best. The initial impression has to matter. To me that would be FB toned with selenium if a straight silver gelatin print is what you intend to submit. Dry mounting to a piece of 2 ply board will keep the print flatter than otherwise, but some time in the drymount press with heat should flatten even a larger than 11x14 print well enough even without being mounted.

( I recently saw a group of six prints of Alfred Steiglitz "made" by Imogen Cunningham which have never otherwise been seen. They were prints authorized by her estate from her original negatives but made recently. I was interested to see them of course, but the one she selected from that session to print herself was incredibly better. The latter day ones were on matte paper and may well have been RC at that. Her single print was on glossy fiber paper and looked so much better it was startling. Side by side, to my eyes at least, glossy blows matte away entirely. )

 

[omalley]

In my understanding, exhibition standard is FB matte or semi-matte finish. Glossy has that glare to it. You can flatten the prints yourself. If you don't have a dry mount press, use a clothes iron and place the print between two pieces of matboard. If you can plan to flatten them this way and then leave them between the board, pressed under a heavy stack of books for a few days, they will come out pretty darn flat.