When framing pictures do you use glass or not....

[Xavier Cook]

I prefer using glass picture frames. I usually get 20*30 picture frames. The reasons why I use them are several. They protect the images from airborne pollutants. Everything from methane to sulfur dioxide to breath & spit from those who look from an inch away & explain your image to everyone within earshot.

Try a few images on a wall without the glass & see how long they last before fingerprints, scratches & food get on them & you may look more positively at the glass as something needed to show the images.

[Kirk Gittings]

I'm NOT picking on you, Al -- but I'm curious if everyone else shares this view...

I don't. The best printers and galleries and museums in the world put prints under glass. What don't they know? Each of my prints have a value and that is lost if someone hawks a big fluggy on one. I can reprint it but the value of that damaged print is lost. Whether it can be reprinted does not diminish the value of that print. Is one's time and materials worth nothing? Paintings, either oil or acrylic, are far more cleanable than a silver print. I've tried both and there is a huge difference. But prints are not whether they are lithographs, woodcuts or gelatin silver photographs and yes lithographs and woodcuts are put under glass/acrylic. Photographs on canvas usually get a protective coating which is also much more cleanable that a bare print. I have no experience with alt process prints like carbon.

What can happen? One thing I have seen is the end of a broom or mop handle poking your print leaving a decent scuff mark.

[John Kasaian]

Our District Fair Photography Competition prohibits using glass. After the 2 week run the prints being exhibited get kind of funky.

[Drew Wiley]

It is unthinkable to me to display any kind of valuable print unprotected. I prefer acrylic to glass per se because it is shatter-resistant and a much better thermal
insulator. I've seen mold grow behind glass due to condensation. I once saw about 75% of a master set of Manual Alvarez Bravo's prints ruined due to being unprotected. Fingerprints, coffee splatters, donut jam. Wine and cheese don't help either. I frame everything myself. I've seen enough back rooms of galleries to
question their competence. Kinda like not wanting to eat out after you've seen a few actual restaurant kitchens.