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OVER THE YEARS I HAVE HUNG MY PICTURES, BOTH at home and in galleries, indifferent presentation styles. Early on, I framed and matted my pictures under glass. Then I moved on to prints mounted on board with no frames (prints with a narrow white border). Lately, I have been making prints with wide white borders which are then framed (classic gunmetal gallery frames) without glass.
The reason for giving up the use of glass is two-fold: 1) to my eye and sensibilities, the look and “feel” of the surface of my prints is important to me and glass, at best, obfuscates the print surface and, at worst, completely obliviates it, 2) other than museum glass-which is way too expensive-regular glass has too much reflectivity which also has a tendency to increase apparent print contrast.
Re: frames - after a period of not using frames, I have returned to using them, albeit with very wide white bordered prints, for one primary reason. A framed print, with the image surrounded by a wide white border tends to signal to a viewer that the picture is not to be considered lightly. That is, a signal that a good picture demands an expansive neutral white field in order to separate it from any visual distractions that might interfere with a viewer’s contemplation and consequent appreciation of the picture.
And, you know, ya gotta let a viewer know that it is important stuff -not just some crummy snapshot that a clueless relative took-that they are looking at.