Print Display Advice

[KidA]

Up until now, I've never properly shown my work, so I have absolutely no experience in displaying my prints for viewing by the public. Coming up, there is a competition taking place in a gallery setting going on in Toronto, and I'd like to know your thoughts on how I should approach the displaying of my work. The following is copied and pasted from their official info page. It's quite vague...

"Accepted works must be delivered to 918 Bathurst by no later than Friday, April 29th, including postage paid
return packaging. Please ensure your works are ready to ship and ready to hang."

So, how would you approach this? I will be sending in either 11"x14" or 8"x10" monochrome fiber prints - I haven't decided yet on what finish, I might do a mix of matt and glossy depending on the picture (I'm sending in 3 prints). I would like to keep it as economical as I can whilst being acceptable for gallery viewing.

 

[KidA]

That's the easy part! My main concerns are the aesthetic qualities of the prints.

 

[MattKing]

I would go to the gallery and find out what they like.

Glossy or mat may not matter if your prints are going to be framed behind glass.

Simple black frames holding generously (standard) sized white mats are what I would suggest.

You can easily re-use most frames.

 

[paul ron]

Just curious.. what about lighting standards? Are there any?

Just how much n what type of light is recommended to preview prints before displaying them in public? It may look nice on my wall but the gallery may not be the same.

any way to measure it?

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

An often quoted standard for the lighting of photographic prints for display is St. Ansel's recommendation* of 80-100 foot-candles of white light at the print surface.

In more modern terms, that would be an equivalent incident light meter reading of EV 8.43 - 8.75 at ISO 100. The mid-point of 90 foot-candles is almost exactly EV 8.60. (Measure this with the flat diffuser disk, not the spherical one, as the print itself is also flat.)

For my submissions to the Blind Print Exchange I include a recommendation of at least 60 foot-candles, or EV 8.0 at ISO 100. This matches my darkroom viewing light. Much less, and the shadows begin to get murky.

Ken

* The Print, Chapter 7, p.164

 

[Bob Carnie]

If I am not mistaken this show is not inclusive to fiber based prints.

918 or Lonsdale, not sure which space they will use has track lighting for their walls.

 

[KidA]

If I am not mistaken this show is not inclusive to fiber based prints.

I didn't see any mention on fiber paper... Did I miss something?

Just curious.. what about lighting standards? Are there any?

Just how much n what type of light is recommended to preview prints before displaying them in public? It may look nice on my wall but the gallery may not be the same.

any way to measure it?

Hmmm, to be honest, I've never been. I'll make it a point to check it out. What am I to look for? Should I bring a meter and measure the brightness of the lights?

 

[paul ron]

reply #6 has the meter readings. use that as YOUR guide when printing.

good luck