Help with a museum display

[durr3]

I have been asked to do a show at our local Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi..........

I am planning on displaying 20 +/- platinum prints. (my mentor set this up so I better do what she says.)

My question is, should all prints be matted and framed the same way? And, do they all need to be the same size? I shoot 5x7 and 4x5.

Any suggestions about matting and framing?

thanks,
J Durr

[chuckcars]

Using the same size over and over gets boring to me. Size according to what your vision was at the time you captured the photograph. Standard frame sizes and materials. Pay more attention to the composition. Make the mat accordingly. I like matt black wood frames and tru vue standard picture glass.

Best,

[Richard Wasserman]

I suggest doing all the frames the same size for continuity. Aren't you glad you asked? I also like small prints (Mixing 4x5 and 5x7 is fine) in large frames—11x14 or even 16x20 if budget allows. The large frames add a preciousness to the print as an object which I think works well with platinum prints.

Best of luck with your show!

[Thom Bennett]

J. Durr, when will the show open? Love the MS Museum of Art and would like to meet a fellow platinum printer. I'm in New Orleans.

And I agree with Richard; bigger frames with small prints looks great.

Thom

[Ken Lee]

It's certainly easier to prepare and transport frames when they are all the same size. It's easier for the gallery to hang them too. It can often be cheaper to purchase the materials, due to economy of scale.

[ROL]

There isn't much significant difference in size between prints that small. Not that size matters! It will be easier for the curator of the work, which may be you, to hang fully presented and framed work if they are all the same frame size. In any case, uniform sizes will certainly make your life easier, and possibly less expensive, in presenting them yourself. The key is that the display wall will likely look cleaner and more professional with same sized frames than it will with differing frame sizes for specific sized prints. You haven't said whether they are mixed portrait or landscape orientations. That will also make quite a difference in a final wall presentation. Frankly, unless you have a well defined sense of aesthetics, and I have found few do, I would recommend asking the museum what they prefer and getting professional help (not quite the same as opinions here). If this is meant to be an exercise in curating for you, again unspecified, then you should probably try variants of sizes and orientations on your own in order to develop or understand the sense of aesthetics that curating requires. It's a bit of a parlor trick, literally in this case, in which the wall obviates the stage of each individually framed print.

Be that as it may, I frame all prints (much bigger than yours) of any single largest linear dimension in the same size frame. That will also be a consideration for you as your 45s and 57s are of differing aspect ratios. You may want to read Print Presentation for a fuller explanation of dry mounting method and presentation design goals.

[Darin Boville]

Talk with your mentor. Take his or her advice. The one "rule" that I like is that the frame, the way the frames are hung, etc should all work to make the photographs look great, not call attention to themselves. I've just visited six art museums, all across the country, in the past two weeks. I remember many of the artworks. I remember none of the frames.

--Darin

[jhogan]

I work in a museum, so, if I may offer some advice:

First, make sure to find out what the institution is expecting. It *may* have a stock of frames for just such an occasion, like we do. We often get "loose" prints which will be matted and framed in our own shop. Sometimes we'll send things out to a high-end framer when circumstances require it. It's not always the case, but it's worth asking about, just in case there is some $$$ for framing in the budget for your show.

Assuming you are responsible for the matting and framing, I highly recommend using Neilsen Aluminum frames. http://www.nielsenbainbridge.com/eng...aluminium.html

They are inexpensive, they are a breeze to put together, and go up on the wall with two screws in the top channel and one below for security. Installers love them.

What's great is you can easily use them over an over again, and they don't take up much room when disassembled.

While they aren't the most elegant solution, if you use a simple profile in black, they are quiet and don't distract from the work. For anything up to 20 x 24", a one inch depth will suffice; if you're going larger, 1 1/2" will usually work.

Once the work is matted, it takes about ten minutes to assemble the frame- the plexi, mat/print, and backing (usually Coroplast)-simply slide the "sandwich" into three assembled sides, attach the fourth, put some spring clips behind the channels in the back, and you're done. Only tool needed is a flat-headed screwdriver.

As far as size goes, a *general* rule of thumb: double the window size for your frame dimensions; IE, if your print is 8x10" your frame is 16x20".

It's worth asking about overall sizes and numbers, since the museum's exhibitions designer likely has a certain amount of space set aside for your work...

Here are some pictures to illustrate:

[ROL]

As far as size goes, a *general* rule of thumb: double the window size for your frame dimensions; IE, if your print is 8x10" your frame is 16x20".

Here are some pictures to illustrate:

That general rule would seem excessive to me. I know people mat postage stamp size prints in oversize mats ala your upper right, but I don't think that is customary, and it will also increase costs dramatically. Also, although a good illustration of prints of differing sizes in same size frames, I've not generally seen the salon style of hanging in any major museums in my area, except where the curator specifically wishes to group works together for comparison. What museum do you work at it?

[h2oman]

If you get Nielsen frames, don't make the mistake I once made - don't get "anode black!" They are too shiny. Matte black is what you want, in my opinion.