With the move to a new house semi-settled, decided to get out the Seal 210M dry mount press and all related to try dry mounting some fiber paper prints made years ago. Shopping for dry mounting tissue and related supplies, discovered there appears to be a trend to not allow or use dry mounting of fiber based prints by the archival folks. The claim against dry mounting is based on the print not being removable once dry mounted and degradation of the print due to materials and process of dry mounting.

Question is, I've got dry mounted fiber prints done decades ago that are not much if any different than the day they were dry mounted. Granted these mounted fiber prints were properly stored. Yet this has got me wondering what is all this !!!! about. Historically, dry mounting the print was part of the photographic print making process. Any serious photographer would deliver finished B & W art prints dry mounted. Color transparency images were a different deal.

What wrankles me about the dry mounting of fiber paper prints, if not dry mounted to keep them flat, they do not look acceptable at all as the mounted print is part of the finished print.

Add to this, the suppliers and all have changed.. lots.


Bernice