Glue for collage using gelatin silver prints

Hello everyone,
I've been experimenting with collages using my gelatin silver prints. So far, I've been using masking tape to temporarily secure pieces. Any recommendations on a good archival glue for final pieces?
Also, I may have access to a mounting press (There's one in the public darkroom I use, but don't know if it works). If I can use it, would the only option be to use mounting tissue with it? I ask because I tend to use many pieces of paper, some very small, and attaching mounting tissue to each might be a pain.
Any help appreciated! Thank you!

Mounting tissue is not that bad. You need a tacking iron. Lay out your base, put the mounting tissue on it, then start tacking the little pieces where you want them to be. When they're all in place, put the whole thing in the press.

Glue is messy. Dry mount tissue is amazing.

If the press doesn’t work out or you have spaces between some of the pieces and decide to go with glue use PVA adhesive.

I've used matt medium for photo/ collage with very good results.

I used Varathane (polyurethane) when I decoupaged my electric guitar several decades ago....

Don_ih said:

I used Varathane (polyurethane) when I decoupaged my electric guitar several decades ago....

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Telecaster?

I assume that by 'archival' you mean 'won't damage my prints'. If so, then most of the answers so far are useful.

Personally, I would use an acid-free PVA glue (don't use cheap craft-grade glue, get a good grade from a bookbinding or art supply place.). PVA gives you a bit of working time to get things laid down and properly aligned.

Invest in a good glue brush (modern silicon brushes are great) so you can lay down a thin, even layer of glue. Most folks have troubles with PVA because they use too much and jerry-rig a spreading tool.

If you go by the strictest definition of archival adhesives must be reversible.

In this case none of the answers so far are useful. If you need a reversible adhesive you would want to use either a wheat or rice paste or maybe a fish skin glue. All of these are reversible with water.

Even something seeming as simple as gluing two pieces of paper together is a skill that requires a bit of practice to do properly. You need a thin even layer of glue and want to learn exactly how close to the edge of a piece you can go without getting excessive squeeze out at the edges. Keep a damp cloth available to clean up any glue that does squeeze out. Gluing ain't rocket science, but it does require a bit of know-how and practice.

3M makes adhesive transfer tape. No support only adhesive with backing paper. This stuff will stick anything, no odor and builds strength with time.

Thanks everyone! Off to look up your suggestions.

Rolleiflexible said:

Telecaster?

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No - it was some no-name thing.

As for the topic at hand, most dry mount tissue won't work with rc paper - the heat needed will bubble the print surface. I tried gluing rc paper (to mdf) with a few different things and had not much luck - but I didn't try hard.

Don_ih said:

No - it was some no-name thing.

As for the topic at hand, most dry mount tissue won't work with rc paper - the heat needed will bubble the print surface. I tried gluing rc paper (to mdf) with a few different things and had not much luck - but I didn't try hard.

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You can try a low temp dry mount adhesive like BufferMount which is reversible and requires bonding temperature of 170 F. However, if the OP is using RC paper, all bets are off whether any of the adhesives mentioned will make a permanent bond without a receptive porous surface, with the exception of perhaps polyurethanes. Others worth considering for non-porous surface would be epoxy, acrylate (aka crazy) and rubber based (also called contact cement) glues. No idea how archival those would be in the present context.

:Niranjan

Your best bet for archival mounting is Whole Wheat Starch, which if properly made is devoid of "food stuffs" that microbes like, because it is repeatedly cycled until no mold or fungus will grow into it in solution with clean H²O.

Good Art Paper Supply Houses should have this in stock.

It's reversible.

The second archival choice I suggest, is a two to three part process.

Golden Paints Flat Gel/Paste medium to adhere the photographs to a prepared ground.

While my preference is for 200% Cotton Rag Board of eight (8) ply thickness, boards, plate glass and rust free metal plates also treated first with several coats of Golden's GAC 400 or GAC 800 acrylic medium.

Look at their work on stopping harmful gas passage through boards, canvas, papers that damage paintings, etc and double check which GAC Mediums they found to block these gases.

After applying several layers of medium, use Golden Acrylics White or Black Acrylic Gesso to create a ground for receiving your photographic work and use the flat medium as your adhesive.

It does not hurt to use the "outgassing prevention" medium first on the back of your printed pieces, but be aware that acrylic mediums are 'wet' to a degree that will warp papers, if not lightly pressed by a weight sufficient to keep the material flat while curing.

This is what I've used for linen covered boards and it is a sound practice so far as I've seen the last decade or so.

Good luck and show us your final work, if you please.

Eli

My wife does assemblages on paper, she uses PVA glue and uses Lascaux spray as a protective top coat.

Years ago, I used rice glue... the same stuff for papering sliding doors in Japan. To prevent mold, I mixed in a little Sodium Benzoate. These days, I'd use an acrylic medium.... the same stuff I use to size paper for carbon transfer.

I like mshchem's wife's PVA approach.

If you use PVA glue, paint a thin coating on the back of your print (I assume you are using FB paper) and let it dry. Position the print where you want it on the matt board and use a very warm iron to adhere the print to the board. You read this correctly, you iron it on . The heat from the iron re activates the adhesive and when it cools the photo is stuck on. You can use the iron to loosen the print to re position or remove.

Many years ago when I was working as a photography lecturer in Hampshire, England, there was a notice board in a corridor near my classroom that had a notice board about 6 feet X 4 feet and I decided to make a collage on it. At the end of every day 60 or so students left random size test strips which were left floating in the dev, stop or fix, or exterior sink. Usually these were about 2 or 3 inches X 1 inch, but all random sizes. I would select what I thought were the most interesting one (regardless of subject) and fix and wash them. This despite many had turned brown or partially fogged / sabatier / semi silvered, or whatever, when the white light in the darkroom went on at the end of the day. Over the course of several months, I mounted these on the notice board using PVA glue (as fgorga has suggested). It dries clear and protects the print surface.

Or use whatever, get it all set up and then take a photograph of it; that is what Henry Peach Robinson would do.

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread, but I've been thinking about creating a collage using 'failed' silver gelatin prints and this thread has been very useful. I'll probably go with an archival PVA glue as suggested here, but I was wondering what is the best support on which to adhere small pieces of my prints using the glue? I was thinking about using a heavy watercolor paper and then float-mounting the result, but I wasn't sure if such paper would be a good choice for this. Any other suggestions for something more appropriate that might produce a similar look?

logan2z said:

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread, but I've been thinking about creating a collage using 'failed' silver gelatin prints and this thread has been very useful. I'll probably go with an archival PVA glue as suggested here, but I was wondering what is the best support on which to adhere small pieces of my prints using the glue? I was thinking about using a heavy watercolor paper and then float-mounting the result, but I wasn't sure if such paper would be a good choice for this. Any other suggestions for something more appropriate that might produce a similar look?

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So timely! I have same issue as I want to make photo collage with strips of prints that I took with a camera that had 4 lenses on 35mm film
I've seen others do it but had no clue how it was accomplished