Framing? with or without matt

[davetravis]

I'm taking pride in not being the "one"...

But you must be "the one", like in the Matrix? Right?
Somebody has to be "the one."

 

[gandolfi]

But you must be "the one", like in the Matrix? Right?
Somebody has to be "the one."

ok, you lost me.
I use liquid emulsion as matrix for my bromoil..

who is Matrix ? some digit## guy?

 

[roteague]

who is Matrix ? some digit## guy?

A Hollywood movie.

 

[gandolfi]

A Hollywood movie.

thaught so..

don't know him..

 

[gbroadbridge]

Personally, the mount and frame should be as unobtrusive as possbile. They should be neither complimentary, nor should they degrade from the image. They should be invisible - they're there to hold the image so one can look at it.

The last compliment I want when someone is looking at one of my photographs is "Great Frame", or "Nice Mat". If you get that, you've done something wrong.

I want people to look at the *image*, not the frame or the mount.

Just my $0.02 worth....

Dunno, I'm renowned for using coloured mats.

I really like it when a happy purchaser makes a comment like, "wow, the coloured background really made your photograph stand out from the rest in the gallery."

I never use white mats on a B&W photograph. They diminish the image.


Graham.

 

[mark]

Personally, the mount and frame should be as unobtrusive as possbile. They should be neither complimentary, nor should they degrade from the image. They should be invisible - they're there to hold the image so one can look at it.

The last compliment I want when someone is looking at one of my photographs is "Great Frame", or "Nice Mat". If you get that, you've done something wrong.

I want people to look at the *image*, not the frame or the mount.

Just my $0.02 worth....

SO why bother with a mat and frame?

 

[Pastiche]

any mat serves to isolate, and somewhat formalize the image. The roots of the mat certainly (read-educated guess) come from the longer and more thought out traditions of classic painting.
That said - I'm with Ken. I don't want anyone looking at the mat/frame.
There is a simple optical reason as well - light tones advance, darker tones recede. The mat should not be lighter than the highlights IN the picture (or so goes the academic thinking), but just a few shades off.
There are also other things going on - from the gallery's viewpoint, they want the work on the wall to not "compete" with each other (group show situations), so having a uniform mat and frame style puts every image on a level playing field.
AND - the assumption is that once the image is purchased, the buyer is expected to mat the image as he/she pleases (if they dont like what it came with), as well as frame it in acordance to their particular tastes/setting. Your carefully selected overmat may get discarded, and replaces with any color they wish - after all, they own the thing, who's to tell them what to do with it?

 

[derekh]

Just a word of caution... If you do not mat, put in spacers so your print does not touch the glass.... it will, over time "become one" with the glass... not a good thing.

That is probably the main purpose of matting... to protect the print from the glass.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to construct spacers for this purpose? I'm interested in this method of framing and am wondering if there is a standard way of doing this.

 

[jimgalli]

Personally, the mount and frame should be as unobtrusive as possbile. They should be neither complimentary, nor should they degrade from the image. They should be invisible - they're there to hold the image so one can look at it.

The last compliment I want when someone is looking at one of my photographs is "Great Frame", or "Nice Mat". If you get that, you've done something wrong.

I want people to look at the *image*, not the frame or the mount.

Just my $0.02 worth....

Perfectly said. The image needs to stand on it's own without any other helps from fancy frames and wordy paragraphs.

That rule like any can occasionaly be broken. I went through a stage with color work where I was combing the mining camp trash piles for "found" frames of rust and sometimes colored enamel objects. In some of those cases as in the example Gandolfi provides the frame is truly an extension of the artists hand as much as the image. The entire piece becomes a sculpture. I have room for that in my thinking. But for the other 1000 to that 1, the frame should be invisible. Especially with black and white. I've been scolded recently for using black foam core / black mat.

 

[matt miller]

I've been scolded recently for using black foam core / black mat.

That's funny. I've been pondering the use of black mat board for a couple images of mine where the highlights are important. I was thinking it might bring them out even more. Still feels sort of cheesy to me though.

 

[laz]

I rather detest colorful mats and to a slightly lesser degree colorful frames. Black or white mat only. I'm sometimes tempted toward gray but I always talk myself way out of being so wild.

I associate color matting with cheap prints. I understand and am not judgemental about sculptural frames, they are just not to my taste.

I will add that I prefer an off-white to stark white which I find too cold and harsh. For a high contrast print that demands a stark mat I like black.

-Bob

 

[rmann]

Glass spacers - Framespace and Econospace are two brands of plastic spacers for framing - try www.unitedmfrs.com for large orders, or Light Impressions for smaller lots at a higher price. Econospace is a pressure sensitive strip that attaches to the glass - in either clear or black. Framespace is a double channel design that will put from 1/8" up to 3/4" of space between print and glass - comes in clear, black and white. A "friendly" local frame shop may be able to show you samples.

 

[WarEaglemtn]

"The photo, in it's mount, becomes a fine piece of furniture."

Yes, many people frame & mat photos to match the pattern on the couch, the carpet or aunt Tilley's flower print dress.

 

[firecracker]

I've recently met this young lady who works in a frame shop. She has a set of ideas for what would be the best for photo frames, but I disagree with her 100 percent. We were talking about this in a cafe yesterday.

But the thing is, she does the framing, and I make the photographs. If all I care about is only my shots and prints, I wonder how easy my life will become. And now I'm getting a slightly diffrent motivation why I want to hook up with her in a way.

 

[Chuck_P]

any mat serves to isolate, and somewhat formalize the image. The roots of the mat certainly (read-educated guess) come from the longer and more thought out traditions of classic painting.
That said - I'm with Ken. I don't want anyone looking at the mat/frame.
There is a simple optical reason as well - light tones advance, darker tones recede. The mat should not be lighter than the highlights IN the picture (or so goes the academic thinking), but just a few shades off.
There are also other things going on - from the gallery's viewpoint, they want the work on the wall to not "compete" with each other (group show situations), so having a uniform mat and frame style puts every image on a level playing field.
AND - the assumption is that once the image is purchased, the buyer is expected to mat the image as he/she pleases (if they dont like what it came with), as well as frame it in acordance to their particular tastes/setting. Your carefully selected overmat may get discarded, and replaces with any color they wish - after all, they own the thing, who's to tell them what to do with it?

I think this makes sense and I think the print in consideration should stand on its own without needing support from the matting/framing chosen.

I will remember the "light tones advance, darker tones recede" statement---I have often thought that some of my prints would look better if matted on a light gray or off white mat, but just have never done it.

Chuck