Presentation and Pricing of Hand Coated Prints

[John Lockhart]

I have been producing had coated prints, mostly platinum toned kallitypes, for a few months. Recently I had some folks ask me to put eight to ten up in a salon for a monthly event here in Raleigh. I have never prepared prints for anything other than what I have done for myself or friends. They will also be for sale. Thats new for me as well. I would like see some sell. Beside the ego factor, I am going to have a couple hundred dollars sunk in materials etc.

I havent found any good resources for how best to present hand coated prints vs. other types of more conventional media. So, I thought I would seek a bit of advice here. Again, if you know of a good book or other resource I can turn to please point the way. However, the advice I have received in there forums has been awesome.

1. What are folks typically willing to pay for a matted, framed, and handmade print of about 8x10 in size? Most of my stuff is 6x9 from full frame 35mm.

2. How do you choose to mat around the print? Do you deliberately expose the irregular edges? Do you mat up to the print area? Typically my prints have a inch border of exposed area. When I have matted them I put the mat border into that area so I have the full image but no distracting brush marks. However, if you have sold prints before what do folks prefer? Emphasizing the handmade quality could be a selling point, but the print area should stand on its own, and brush marks are hard to control from print to print and can be a distraction. I could always mask the negatives and go for a clean border right up to the edges. However, I hate having a lot of unexposed sensitizer on the paper from masking. It just junks up the developer quickly.

3. What materials do you mount on and what do you use as adhesive? I dont think my prints will ever dry flay enough to just be held down by the mat board. I would prefer to use archival mat board, but are there advantages to foam board? I would like to use a water soluble adhesive that would allow the print to be removed with water or steam if the mat ever got damaged or I made an error. This may sound awful, but acid free glue sticks made for photographs work great and are very forgiving. Are there advantages to spray adhesive or dry mount?

Any advice is appreciated, and if you think there is anything else I ought to consider, please let me know.

Thanks,

- John

 

[donbga]

Any advice is appreciated, and if you think there is anything else I ought to consider, please let me know.

Thanks,

- John

John,

I would contact Diana Bloomfield who also lives in Raleigh and has been producing alt. process prints for years and is a gallery represented fine art photographer in Raleigh. She can give you some insight about your home market: dhbloomfield at bellsouth.net

Just send her an e-mail and mention that I recommended her for input about your questions about pricing.

Don

 

[pschwart]

2. How do you choose to mat around the print? Do you deliberately expose the irregular edges? Do you mat up to the print area? Typically my prints have a inch border of exposed area. When I have matted them I put the mat border into that area so I have the full image but no distracting brush marks. However, if you have sold prints before what do folks prefer? Emphasizing the handmade quality could be a selling point, but the print area should stand on its own, and brush marks are hard to control from print to print and can be a distraction. I could always mask the negatives and go for a clean border right up to the edges. However, I hate having a lot of unexposed sensitizer on the paper from masking. It just junks up the developer quickly.

3. What materials do you mount on and what do you use as adhesive? I dont think my prints will ever dry flay enough to just be held down by the mat board. I would prefer to use archival mat board, but are there advantages to foam board? I would like to use a water soluble adhesive that would allow the print to be removed with water or steam if the mat ever got damaged or I made an error. This may sound awful, but acid free glue sticks made for photographs work great and are very forgiving. Are there advantages to spray adhesive or dry mount?

2. I mask my negatives. I generally find displaying brush marks to be an affectation, but black borders or brush marks can work well for specific images. Clean borders has a practical benefit in that it makes it easy to see when a print is fully cleared.

3. I run my prints through a dry mount press, sign the back, then mount on 100% rag mats using archival plastic corners. The mat window is cut to leave a 1/4" border around the print image. This makes mounting a fussy operation, but I like floating the image inside the mat window. Nice papers cost plenty, might as well let them be seen. Personally, I would never buy a fine print that was mounted using adhesives, including dry mount tissue.
Save your glue sticks for scrap booking

 

[Joe Lipka]

1. Price is irrelevant. Make a choice of what will make you happy and post it. Do not expect sales. Virtually all photo exhibits in Raleigh do not result in print sales. Trust me on this.

2. I used to leave about one eighth to one quarter inch border of pure black around each image. It looked nice when overmatted and was similar in size to the mat black frames I used. Most people can't tell the difference between a digital print and a hand coated platinum print. It's not their fault, they are just ignorant of this process.

3. I mounted and over matted. For adhesive, I made T-hinges from Scotch magic mending tape because the backing was dimensionally stable and the adhesive was pH neutral. The chief advantage of foam core is price. For short term exhibition, I would not worry about using foam core backing.

Diana would be an interesting person to email for advice.

 

[John Lockhart]

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I am getting most of it right. I also really prefer leaving a 1/8 to 1/4 quarter border around the prints.

I would also like to mount the prints without adhesive. However, how do you get your prints flat enough to mount this way?

 

[donbga]

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I am getting most of it right. I also really prefer leaving a 1/8 to 1/4 quarter border around the prints.

I would also like to mount the prints without adhesive. However, how do you get your prints flat enough to mount this way?

You can dry mount to another piece of paper or use Clear Corners.

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/xl-photo-corners/mounting-supplies/

Weight the prints with a large smooth flat object and stack books on the surface or use a dry mount press to flatten, the former method requires several days to take effect.

As far as pricing goes you obviously have to cover the cost of your materials. If you are typical of most amateur photographers, you will soon realize that in the end you will spend more for framing/presentation and raw materials for printing than you will ever get back in sales (never mind your time printing and shooting).

Unfortunately photographers that aren't established artists usually don't fetch much for their work. For starters I would price your work at about 25% above costs including any commissions you may have to pay to a gallery or venue or organization.

Good luck,

Don

 

[John Lockhart]

Excellent advice. I saw a used dry mount press the other day for very little cash.

I expect to lose some money, but it will be a fun project.

 

[donbga]

Any advice is appreciated, and if you think there is anything else I ought to consider, please let me know.

One more thing. You need to include an artist's statement on exhibit with your work.

Don

 

[Joe Lipka]

What type of paper are you using for your prints? I used to use COT 320, or some similar heavy weight paper. I would not expect an 8 x 10 piece of paper to curl.

On larger pieces of paper, I would T hinge all four corners.

If you need some feedback on your plans, send me a PM and we can get together.