Do photographers sign their prints

I've noticed some photographers add a label to their photos indicating the name of the photographer and the year it was taken. I assume

this is to counteract plagiarism.

 

My question is, do photographers sign their prints when they exhibit photos in galleries? Just curious. I can't seem to remember seeing

signatures on prints

>>> My question is, do photographers sign their prints when they exhibit photos in galleries?

 

Yes. Many times they are signed on the back.

<p>A traditional way of signing a piece of art is to sign in pencil on the matte board. Others sign on the back -- or both. Some sign on the print. I had some b&w photo on canvas in a gallery recently and I signed on the print. There is not any matte board or frame on a gallery canvas print.</p>

<p>I sign mine on the backside of the print in the margin, and also on the foam board backing.</p>

I don't know what other photographers do but I've done it all three ways, signing on mat board, the back of the print, or on the front. <br><br> Printing with wide white "margins" means I can frame my pictures without mats, using a spacer between the glass and the photo which is supported by an archival foamcore backing board. In that case, I sign on the front, as if the bottom margin were a mat.<br><br>Buyers have seemed relieved when I tell them the prints are signed on the back but signing on the mat or front of the print eliminates the question. <br><br> If you're exhibiting through a gallery, you might ask their advice. --Sally

<p>How do you sign when you send your photos out to be professionally matted and framed?</p>

<p>My experience is, that it becomes more and more the rule, that you do two things: You sign on the back of the print with year of making the shot, and issue a Certificate of Authenticity, which is signed and which describes in details the work and printing. That's what I'm doing for each original print (photo and mixed media printmaking work) I sell, which the galleries in question demand as condition of selling. Other prints (copies) are not signed and only the bill will prove its authenticity as being a copyright covered copy.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Signing on the matte board is not an enduring guarantee of authenticity, unless the photograph is permanently bonded to the matte board which is considered undesirable for a lot of reasons. Some photographers sign on the face of the print or in a margin, though many photographic papers won't take a pencil signature at all well. On balance , signing on the reverse in a margin is my preference.</p>

<p>I've done all of the above as well...and I sometimes sign B&W prints in metallic ink directly on the print.</p>

I've done it just about every way possible. Now, I'm using LR5's identity plate to put my "signature' in the lower right corner of the print in Segoe Script. It looks much nicer than my handwritten scrawl.

<p>For my matted and framed photographs, I usually sign on the white margin below the image and then cut the matte (is it 'mat' or 'matte'?) so the window is 3/4 inch wider all around than the image dimension and with the image centered in the window the signature is visible. But then I've also used the other approach and cut the matte window so no white margin shows and then I sign the matte board. In either case my signature is always on the front and visible (perhaps that's why I don't sell all that much, it's certainly not because the photographs are uninteresting).</p>

<p>Sometimes I sign on the matte board with a date and title, sometimes I just put the signature and nothing else and sometimes I don't sign at all, depends on the print and the subject. I think a too prominent signature is a big turn off, particularly when it implies it is output from a commercial studio (often when it clearly isn't, e.g Photograph by John Doe, John Doe Photography). One could argue that a LR script <em>really</em> implies mass production as this is very impersonal. Probably it is better to sign on the back of the print as this is unambiguous and subtle. Then the issue is whether you are going to title the print or not.</p>