MountMatAsm

ALAN MEVIS PHOTOGRAPHS

MOUNTING AND MATTING

Black and white archival processed fiber based silver gelatin prints, like any other work of fine art, require a certain amount of care and proper handling for optimum conservation and longevity.   Museum quality mounting, matting and framing should be observed.  Therefore, when you purchase one of my photographs for your art collection, it is worth the extra expense for you to specify museum quality framing.   If you order your photograph from me with mounting and matting, it will be done with archival museum conservation materials and methods.

During my mount and mat procedures, specially made lint-free gloves are worn so that no potentially damaging acidic finger print oil is deposited on the photograph.   Acidic materials in contact with the photograph will eventually cause damage.   Regular paper matboard, which is acidic and contains damaging lignin, and consumer tapes and glues, which are acidic, should be avoided and are not used by me.   Permanent mounting techniques, such as the pendant t-bar hinge, which hangs the photograph on the mount board, and dry mounting, should also be avoided and are not used by me.   If you ever want or need to change the mounting, removing the photograph from such mounting situations can damage the photograph even with the most careful removal technique.

Acid free non-buffered 4 ply 100% cotton rag matboard is what I use for both the mount board and window mat.   Buffered matboard contains alkali that over the long term has been shown to be damaging to black and white photographs.

I prefer off-white matboard because it makes a better presentation than does pure white.   Off-White will compliment and bring out the whites of the print, whereas pure white will contrast with the print whites to dull them.

Other materials that I use are acid free rice paper that I use to hand-make triangular mounting corners and acid free linen tape to attach the mounting corners to the mount board and attach the window mat to the mount board.   The window mat or other device to keep the photograph away from the glass or Plexiglas is a necessity.   Air circulation between the glass and print is important.

Whether you order mounting and matting from me, your own framer, or do it yourself, UV filtering glass or Plexiglas, a museum quality framing specification, is recommended.   In any case, prolonged or harsh lighting cast on the displayed artwork should be avoided.   Also, too high or to low humidity, high ambient temperatures and frequent and/or large swings in humidity and temperature can compromise the longevity of the artwork.   That said, it is also true that archival processed silver prints are quite hardy and can survive moderate environmental insults intact and looking as fresh as on day one.   With such a print, the question really is what will its condition be 150 or 200 years from day one when the accumulation of insults finally may have caused changes in the print’s appearance to emerge.

One measure that I take in processing the prints is to put them through a bath of weak solution selenium toner.   This extra process converts the silver oxide crystals in the print to silver selenide, which is more stable and improves the prints resistance to degradation.   The process does not shift the tone of the photograph.   A stronger solution could produce a tone shift depending on the photographic paper and developer used on the print.   As an aesthetic/artistic decision, the images in the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade portfolio were selenium toned to produce a tone shift.   A very slight purplish cast, perhaps noticeable only next to an un-toned print, was produced.

Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you have questions about mounting and matting, or any other aspect of my work.