How to do a simple, home-made exhibition?

[david-nicolas]

I would kie to make a small, home-made photographic exhibition. It

would take place in a friend's house, putting the pictures on some of

the walls. What advice would you give me? Should I print mat or

glossy? Should I frame the pictures under glass, or have them put on

PVC? (Lightning is of course important, but I can't afford any

specific equipment...) I would have a mixture of A3 and A4 prints.

Any thoughts are welcome!

[nikos peri]

Personally, for prints under glass I prefer matte printing. Reflections are already high when the lighting isn't ideal, adding a glossy print to the equation makes it even harder to view.<p>

Glass wise, I'd stay away from PVC if the budget allows. At your sizes, keeping plexiglass flat and distortion free is going to be next to impossible. I have seem exhibition glass that is actually invisible compared to regular window pane glass, but it's EXPENSIVE. Good luck!

[david-nicolas]

Thanks for your answer. By the way, is it important to frame the photographs under glass? Since glass reflections are annoying, isn't better to avoid it? What are the solutions then? Could one put a picture on the frame without the glass??? Thanks!

[nikos peri]

Why not. The main issue would be keeping everything flat; more difficult at A3 of course. Mount the prints on a matte board with the passepartout only holding the print flat and see if it works.

[vatovec]

You can mat prints without glass if environmental fumes aren`t a problem (smoke, pollution etc.).

If You must mount with glass try to find a mat version, it reduces drastically reflections and is suitable for places with no so perfect lighting, however there is a drop in perceived sharpness as well, see if it suits You.

[michael_darnton1]

I have a rotating exhibition in my shop, of about 12 photos on a wall with tracklight illumination. It's just for fun, a combination of my wife's photos and shots of my customers (violinsts), and wanting to keep it easy and cheap, I went to a big discount store and found some very nice frames that cost about $3 each. They're very simple and unassuming metal, small-framed, with a slot on one side to side the photo and matte in, and came with mattes, but I'm cutting my own. They aren't fancy, but they look classy and didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

 

The whole thing looks real nice. The glass is just glass, and the prints are glossy, but the overhead track lighting in a dark room results in no glare at all.

[mark_rogers]

The glass helps protect the print from pollutants in the air, and even standard glass will filter a little bit of harmful UV radiation. The mat in addition to its aesthetic value, keeps the print away from the glass (which will harm the print due to emulsion interaction and condensation), and will help keep the print flat allowing simple hinge mounting to be used. Conservation style hinge mounting makes it easy to replace prints in the frame, although its actual purpose is to allow the same print to be reframed with fresh components.

 

Artistically speaking, gallery style framing is very common for photo exhibitions. This style consists of a thin (1/2 inch or less) simple frame moulding (usually black), with a fairly thick (2 to 4 inches) mat (usually white, sometimes black). The idea being that the frame presents the print without distracting from it. The opposite end of the spectrum, often used for paintings, utilizes colored mats and elaborate ornate moulding. In this style, the color of the mat and the frame will have a custom relationship to the painting, and they will be considered an extension of the artwork.

[peter_eisenburger]

I'm preparing my first exhibition right now. (I let Fujicolor make digital exposures from scanned slides. Excellent quality. The best here in Germany. Because I use Fujichrome slides?)

 

I prefer glossy prints because they are sharper. But then the prints have to be mounted or fixed to have them really flat (I don't know the exact English word, German: "aufziehen") to avoid distorted reflections.

 

I made the mistake to order plexiglass because I had a wrong consultation. It's flexible and you can see nasty distortions of reflected windows and so on. I have to try to change them all to float glass.

 

The problem are not reflections like float glass will give too but distorted reflections or the milky shine of anti-reflex glass IMO.

[peter_eisenburger]

BTW David, even if you exhibit your photos "home-made" in a friend's house - your pictures will gain largely from a mat ("passepartout") and glass. It will make them look more professional. Think of all the efforts you made to shoot them, print them and so on. If it's a matter of money I would show less pictures but in the described way.

[ralph_wilson]

Mark is leading you in the right direction in my opinion. Narrow black frame, wide white mat, standard glass. Avoid non-glare. My area has a camera club that requires that style presentation for some of their exhibits.

[van_camper]

For the best picture framing glass try DEN GLASS! When in your frame there is no reflection at all, no reduction of print quality, it is ultra clear (no green cast as seen in most cheap glass), and you have to touch the framed picture before you know there is even glass there. Not every store knows of it, and it is not std picture framing glass. This product is very expensive, but incredible for your best work. Most frame shops won't carry it (too expensive).