I always flatten my thoroughly washed and slightly selenium toned baryta
prints by taping them with archival aquarelle tape to a glass plate.
This way they dry perfectly flat within 24 hours. While still taped to
the glass plate I treat the face of the print with renaissance wax to
protect the image and to intensify the deep blacks. After cutting the
frint from the glass plate I place my emboss stamp and mount the prints
with two small pieces of the same archival tape hinged to the archival
bevelled over matt, sandwiched between the matt and the over matt in an
aluminium or pvc picture frame with real glass (no plastics here). The
matted print is backed with a sheet of food-grade aluminium foil before
I place the back plate of the picture frame. Once everything is in
place, I tape the whole back shut with craft paper and the same
aquarelle tape, like they do with paintings. After thirty-five years I
have still to see the first deterioration of my earliest prints.
Wilbert
2018-01-02 03:57, hksvk wrote:
I have been told by one who should know that, in the 1970’s and
’80’s, when people began to pay real money for ‘art’
photographs by the prominent photographers of the day, gallery owners
put higher prices on unmounted prints, so they naturally began to be
thought of as somehow ‘better’ and more valuable. But the only
reason for the higher prices was that there were fewer of
them---photographers’ general practice was to mount the prints they
really cared about. Personally, I worked on a show of Arnold Newman
prints—they had been mounted for 40-50 years by that time and were
in excellent condition. True, they were very slightly yellowed but
without seeming faded. They felt that they truly were ‘vintage’
prints.
But now there is archival dry mounting tissue called BufferMount, made
by Seal that is acid free to obviate fading. This tissue is also
termed ‘archival’ because the photograph can be pretty easily
removed from the rag board with judicious application of heat without
damage to the print. Whoops, just now I see that this tissue is no
longer available.
My experience is that matted but unmounted fiber prints larger than
about 11x14 can become too wavy for decent viewing if they are in
conditions of high ambient humidity. If fastened with plastic corners
(or corners formed with folded rag paper) they can buckle by trying to
expand against the corners because the prints expand more than the rag
paper that the corners are fastened to. A good solution is to
‘hinge’ them to the board with archival tape along a short edge.
Among other possible reasons, museums would be burdened by the
additional space that mounted prints would consume.
Harry
On Jan 1, 2018, at 2:22 PM, bobkiss caribsurf.com [1]============================================================================================================To
<bobkiss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don't know what Kraft paper is. Is it 100% cotton and lignin free?
-------------------------
FROM: "`Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
TO: "pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
SENT: Monday, January 1, 2018 12:41:49 PM
SUBJECT: [pure-silver] Re: Print-Flattening Metal Plate
In this flattening method the flat plates never touch any part of
the print. The emulsion side is in contact with mounting release
tissue and the support side with several thicknesses of absorbent
material like Kraft paper or photo blotter. The sandwich is taken
from the press and put under between the flat weights. Anything in
plywood weights would have to go through two or so sheets of mount
board and the other stuff.
On 1/1/2018 6:31 AM, bobkiss caribsurf.com [1] wrote:
Just a few additions to this thread:
1) Plywood is made with acids and putting it in direct contact with
a warm print, especially one that is outgassing moisture, may well
reduce the longevity of the print and mount board. At least put some
inert coating (that hopefully transfers heat) on the surface of the
plywood that will be in contact with the print.
2) Further, using any paper other than acid and lignin free paper in
contact with the surface of the warm print can have the same result.
Gaylord and University products sell 100% cotton paper for exactly
this type of use.
3) A world renowned photo conservator, Jose Orraca, who died in
2009, advised me regularly on proper print conservation procedures.
He was renowned for, among other things, removing dry mounted Ansel
Adams prints from damaged or degenerated mount boards. When I asked
him if I should dry mount my prints he had two answers:
A) To give him tons of future work and income from removing my
prints from degenerated mount boards, please do.
B) As proper museum and conservation practice DO NOT dry mount
prints. He said to use small tabs of archival tape from the back of
the print to the back of the "window" over-matte. Or use four
archival corners to hold the print in place.
I have learned long ago that one cannot confuse people with the
facts so I don't expect many to heed this advice; we are creatures
of habit. But I would be remiss not to put the facts out there. Your
decision.
NEW YEAR'S CHEERS!
BOB
-------------------------
FROM: "Les Myers" <baroque-2@xxxxxxxxx>
TO: "pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
SENT: Sunday, December 31, 2017 1:02:01 PM
SUBJECT: [pure-silver] Re: Print-Flattening Metal Plate
Thank YOU for republishing Richard's dry mounting instructions. As I
read them, I realized that he describes my process, but without the
plates. I have an old Seal press that is VERY heavy, and it's down
THERE on the floor next to the "wet" side of the darkroom. When I
want to use it, I flex some little-used muscles and heft the thing
to the table. I affix dry mount tissue to the corners of the board
using a tacking iron.
Happy New Year to all, and may none of your issues be too pressing
in 2018.
Les
-----Original Message-----
FROM: photowonder2010@xxxxxxxxxxx
SENT: Sun, 31 Dec 2017 00:02:57 +0000
TO: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
SUBJECT: [pure-silver] Re: Print-Flattening Metal Plate
Thank you so much to everyone who has weighed in with ideas and
methods for post-dry mounting weighting of prints.
A similar query in a facebook group yielded someone who actually has
the type of metal plate I want, so now that I have seen the pictures
and description, I am waiting to hear the ...drumroll... price! I
have a big thick piece laminated shelf from years ago, courtesy of
Ikea, but it is just too heavy and I really want metal for the temp
conductivity.
I also realized that I need to get a larger press(!!) since the 1"
throat on my 16x20 will not allow the prints in the center of the
collage to fit. So the hunt is now on for something bigger. My own
danged fault for having *large* ambitions! \uD83D\uDE0A
Lifelong collage artist (read: packrat) that I am, I actually have
saved Richard's dry mounting instructions from 2007(!) - so no need
to test out your carpal tunnel surgery here (which I am so very
sorry you had to go through!) I have followed these instructions
faithfully over the years with a couple of my own tweaks, and now
have them committed them to memory but of course still have the
original e-mail saved in a word doc, so here ya go:
From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [2]>
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: how to use release paper?
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:22:15 –0700
FWIW, the method I now use for dry mounting is based partially on a
procedure described in a booklet published by Seal in the past but
no longer available, plus some changes I've found useful in
practice.
The difference between this method and some others is that I bond
the dry mounting tissue to the print first. The first step is drying
and flattening the print as described. I also dry out the mounting
board in the press for a couple of minutes.
When the print has been dried and flattened I tack a piece of dry
mounting tissue to it at a spot on one edge. I then make a sandwich
of the print and tissue by laying the print face down on a sheet of
release paper with some padding under it. I then place another sheet
of release paper over the mounting tissue and some layers of padding
on top of that. The entire assembly is then put in the press and
locked down for perhaps 1 to 2 minutes, what ever time is necessary
to fuse the tissue. The sandwich is then removed and placed under
the weight to cool. When cool the release paper will strip right off
the excess mounting tissue. The tissue will have bonded smoothly to
the entire back of the print. I then trim the print and tissue
together to the desired size and shape. I then tack the print to the
mat, again at a spot at one edge, and place a sheet of release
tissue over the print along with several sheets of padding paper,
construction paper or blotter paper works well for this. The
assembly is than placed in the press and locked down for the time
recommended for bonding the tissue, typically about 2 minutes. The
entire assembly, including the release tissue and padding, is then
put under the weight to cool. The cooling time depends on the
thickness of the assembly and the type of material the weight is
made of. For aluminum it might take no longer than about 2 to 3
minutes, for wood perhaps 5 or more minutes. Experience will tell.
When the finished print comes out the release tissue will just lift
off. The result is a very flat and very smooth mount with no excess
tissue or bleeding at the edges. Because the tissue is fused to the
two surfaces separately there is much less chance for bubbles or
wrinkles to form. I still like dry mounting for display prints
because IMO it gives the most uniform surface, especially for glossy
or nearly glossy paper. Archivists and gallery people prefer
unmounted prints because dry mounted prints can be very difficult to
remove from their mats should some future treatment of the print or
replacement of the mat become necessary. The drying method works
well for prints to be mounted on hinges or corner mounts. When low
temperatures are used it does no damage to the prints. I typically
set the press for about the temperature for fusing color mount
tissue although temperatures lower than this, as low as 150F or
perhaps even less, will work well for drying.
Note: Some old Kodak instructions show tacking the release tissue
and print by making an X across the back. This is bad practice and
will very often result in wrinkles or bubbles. Tacking at a spot or
short line at one edge works a lot better. This is the method
recommended by Seal.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [2]
Thank you, Richard, and thank you, everyone, for all the advice and
camaraderie over the years - decades, actually! I have been part of
this wonderful group since about 1986!
Wishing a Happy New Year to you all,
Adrienne
Adrienne Moumin
Handmade B&W photographs and photo collages: http://
[3]picturexhibit.com [3]
ARCHITEXTURES SERIES:
http://picturexhibit.com/html/architextures.html [4]
NYC and Silver Spring, MD
212-602-1809
unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org [5] and logon to
your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when
you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.
--
Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
WB6KBL
Links:
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