Working with Photographers

[dawntaylor]

Photography is big where I live. But I've never worked with photographers before. So maybe someone can enlighten me. On what are the photographs usually mounted? How are the photographs mounted? Are there contracts involved? Are there certain styles of mouldings photographers use? Please advise. Thanks.

 

[spooner]

photographer

I got a degree from photography from SIUC. I shoot and print traditionally. I usually use white mat boards, and linen tape. To mount my picture i prefer just photo corners so i can pull my prints out of a mat if i need to. But other photographers i went to school with dry mounted. We were taught to never do anything to our print that could not be reversed. Usually i go with a black plain frame. I don't want my frame to over power my print. Photographers can be hard to deal with. Also if it is a tradional c-print, i would go with UV glass because they will fade in sunlight.

 

[MIK]

Whether or not the photograph is mounted will be the photographers choice. Some of the photogs I work with have their photos mounted by the photo lab and others have me dry mount. Very few do not want their photos dymounted.

As for matting and framing, again it depends on the photographer. Some want double mat (usually white) others want single or double with contrasting colors. Frames go from #15 metal to 4 inch wide ornate wood.

Talk to the photographer to get a sense of what they want and what you have to offer. The relationship can be a long lasting one or short lived especially if the photographer goes out of business.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[05]

Both framers and photographers should be aware that should a photograph that's been mounted over-all ((i.e. dry mounted, etc.) need conservation work in the future, the task will almost undoubtedly be greatly complicated if not made impossible by this kind of mounting. Many museums and serious collectors are moving away from purchasing photographs mounted in this way.

Photographs will fade in light, UV filtering glazing or none.

 

[wpfay]

Dawn, there's photography, then there's Photography. Learn as much as you can about the various processes that can go into making a photo so you will be able to talk with the photographers closer to their level of understanding.
Photography has always been technology driven, and what is going on today is considerably different from traditional and vintage processes. It is probably one of the most rapidly evolving art forms.
Learning techniques for holding the photo in place is important too. There are still a lot of photographers who have their pieces mounted (this is worthy of a thread of its own, so I won't belabor the point here), and that is their choice. All we can do is assume it is an informed one.
Since you say there's a lot of photography in your region, and you don't seem to be getting much if any framing out of it, what do you plan to do to change that? Most of what I see are images printed with an ink jet printer. They are treated much the same as I would a watercolor, and the matting and frame selection needn't be any different than that. When you get into more traditional and vintage photos is when you need to know what materials are appropriate for which technology.

 

[artfolio]

One piece of general advice I would offer Dawn is this:

Customers generally are woefully ignorant of what is available in a professional framing shop. They will come in and ask for a white matt and a black frame because that is all they have ever seen in chain stores or photography exhibitions. Now, you wouldn't walk into a five-star restaurant and ask for a "Big Mac and Fries" so why walk into a frame shop and order something you could get cheaper from Ikea?

This is where, as a professional in your field you have to take them by the hand and lead them to a land beyond their limited experience; a land where matts are not all white and frames are not all black; a land where well-chosen colours and frames enhance and emphasise the artwork instead of "taking away from it" (Dam I hate that phrase).

Best way is to brush up on the selling skills and have a few ready to go designs which you can whack down on the counter quickly to demonstrate the possibilities. Once you have a few successful sales and satisfied customers the word will spread quickly enough.