|~PhotoTechnique~| Framing Photographs Cheaply and Well (from www.chrisengholm.com)

February 19, 2008 ~~ Lately, we’ve have been hard-pressed here to find a photography framing technology that is attractive, unique, and doesn’t break our financial back.  We had a recent show of 45 prints mounted on 1/2″ “gator board” with wood slats glued to the backs for hanging.  I thought they looked less sophisticated and finished than framed prints with glass covering, but most people really like the modern imposing look of them.  They were expensive, however, to have done…about $40 each for 17×22″ prints.  And worse, once the prints are mounted you have to store them if they don’t sell.  

I felt we needed to create an interchangable system where I could swap out a set of 45 or so prints and exchange them for new prints for a new show.  This way I would purchase one set of presentation frames and reuse them over and over.  We designed an acrylic “sandwich” frame and had a prototype created.  It is beautiful and consists of two slabs of acrylic bolted together with plastic screws.  The edges are beveled and you can sandwich unique paper with the torn-edge look.  Problem is the lowest quote we could get is $115 each.  So a complete reusable set is going to run $5000.  

Next, we ventured to good ol’ Arron Brothers and found large black frames for $16 each, including the glass. I bought nice matting ($6 per print) and a mat cutter ($120). The cutter allows for perfect angled cutting of the window opening for the print and the complete frames look wonderful — and cost about $22 each total.

The problem is that many people like the gator-board look better, which surprised me. They like the way the print jumps off the wall when mounted without a frame. A professional framer at www.onceuponaframe.com has also informed me that a photographer should have a unique framing style to augment the uniqueness of his/her work, and that the Arron Brothers look is the great homogenizer of photography because every cheap-ass photographer uses them (my words here). Thus, I researched how we might gator-mount prints ourselves and cut the cost down. We found a supplier of the board in the LA area and learned that you cut the material with a table saw, which we have gathering dust in the garage. Then you glue the print onto the board and trim the print edges with a knife. You have to fashion the wooden slats on the back yourself, which will involve some delicate work on the table saw as well.

With all this research going on, I had a chance last weekend to visit my favorite photo gallery at MountainLight Gallery in Bishop, Ca., and saw that they MIX framing styles throughout the gallery. They do, however, mat and frame all prints behind glass but the frames differ is color from black to white to a brown natural wood color. This approach probably encourages purchases because the effect is less “photo exhibit” than it is “prints for sale.” The absence of uniformity actually enhances the experience. Each print tends to stand on its own, and the perceived value of each appears enhanced too. (Cha ching)

So for our upcoming “Legends of Guatemala” show, I can’t say what we’re going to do, and time is running out. I guess perhaps we’ll buy five Acrylic frames, gator-mount some prints, and use Arron Brothers cheapo frames on the rest. ~~CE