What is this frame around the photo

[Vaughn]

Looking at his website, my impression is that the borders are all added digitally...even marks from film clips seem to have been added...without any great worry about the borders being realistic.

[Ulophot]

Thanks for the Winters links. I was not aware of his work. For a portraitist, I find much to learn from him.

[BrianShaw]

I’ve never seen a LF holder outline that looks like that. Tomfoolery, for sure... either digital or via a mask.

[paulbarden]

It's not photoshopped, that's for sure. This is Dan Winters' photo, the very famous photographer who shot celebrities, aerospace and other things, on film for decades. I don't say this photo is not manipulated in terms of colors, maybe some dodge and burn, but I can bet it was shoot on film and that frame is the original.

The photograph you first pointed to has almost certainly had the unusual frame border added digitally, after the fact. Yes, some/many of Winters photos depict "genuine" frame borders (the Hasselblad stuff looks legit) but not the image you're asking about.

[Pieter]

I can't remember where I read it, but Avedon sometimes added a film holder border in the darkroom.

[Drew Wiley]

OK, now you're triggering my memory and I'm starting the recognize his work, which is indeed nice. Thank you. But now I'm more convinced than ever that the borders are faked. It could have easily been done via sandwiching a film template in the enlarger carrier, so indeed, no PS necessary.

[LabRat]

I’ve never seen a LF holder outline that looks like that. Tomfoolery, for sure... either digital or via a mask.

To build on Brian, the rebate on top is weird... The top edge over the code notch covers something like around an 1/8" (measure it, not sure) as that is the edge covered by the flap and provides some handling area and is masked with normal holders... This is not covered in the example, and not likely unless holder was modified (unlikely)... The other strange thing is the sides just below the flap are normally open to allow the top of film to be slightly lifted during unloading, but there are little "ears" in this area (that I never have seen before)... Suspicious...

I've never been a fan of pronounced borders, as I believe this "inprisons" the image by over-isolating it... I try to compose the edges so the viewer can imagine what is happening beyond the frame, and create a "soft" transition where the image composition begins and ends but blends to the white margin...

I spend over 85% of my composition time just looking at the borders to create these transitions, overall composition has been seen beforehand, and I'm just getting things into the "frame"...

Steve K

[Drew Wiley]

Yup, I got sick of the fad of roughly filed carrier borders long ago. And something like this seems just as pretentious. But I gotta go as soon as the drymount press heats up, with all prints before trimmed off before mounting !