Re: Gum without glass

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From: Robert W. Schramm (schrammrus@hotmail.com)
Date: 02/15/02-01:43:05 PM Z


I think all alt process prints look better without glass but, of course,
then they have no protection. I put some platinum prints on display last
year without glass but the surface was protected with very thin sheet of
mylar (polyester D) under the mat. I was pleased with the result.

Isn't there an old story about a student who asked his instructor how to
display platinum prints so that they looked their best and the instructor
said , "under two inches of water."

I confess that I have put multiple coats of acrylic spray on a platinum
print to make it look better. Of course I know that is heresy and I run the
risk of being drummed out of platinum printers corps for confessing that.
;-)

In Paris I saw some Demachy gum prints without glass. They were, to take
your breath away. What a shame it would have been to cover them with glass.

Glass is not a solid and has some unusual properties. Old glass on
daguerreotypes tends to get darker with time and has to be replaced. Perhaps
this is a chemical reaction between the silver, mercury and glass.

Bob Schramm

>From: Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com>
>Reply-To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>Subject: Gum without glass
>Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 09:28:09 +0000
>
>Hi Keith,
>I was determined not to look at anything but messages from family today,
>but your message was first and popped into my viewer window, and I
>couldn't resist the "Say, Katherine"
>
>The question is timely, as I have for some time been toying with the
>idea of showing my work unframed, and am experimenting with an idea as
>we speak, but when push comes to shove I always go on autopilot and
>frame them as I always have because it's just easier than working out
>the problems of doing something different. I hadn't thought of matting
>and framing without glass, but that would have solved a problem I had in
>2000 when I was supposed to ship some prints to Darryl Baird for his
>all-gum show in Michigan the day after I delivered a one-person show.
>UPS wouldn't take the glass and I couldn't get plexiglas that day, so I
>gave up and told Darryl I couldn't send the work. And now, I see that I
>could have solved the problem by simply taking out the glass (the work
>was already matted and framed) and put the frames back on. I was just
>too tired to think at that point, and as I told Darryl later, I learned
>an important lesson from that: NEVER schedule two shows at the same
>time, even if one is a group show and the work is already done and
>framed and only has to be shipped. (This is a lesson for myself only; I
>daresay younger and stronger and healthier people could schedule two or
>three shows at the same time without a problem.)
>
>My ISP has been offline off and on this week, and I have a backlog of
>messages going back to Tuesday. At first I tried to work forward and
>then decided I'd never catch up so now I'm working backward, but reading
>only selectively, and it may be a while before I get back to the
>beginning of the backlog. (I still, as a matter of fact, have hundreds
>of alt-photo messages from a year ago when I was offline for a couple of
>months, which I thought someday I might have time to read, but never
>have.) This is a longwinded way of saying "Carry on...."
>
>Katharine
>
>Keith Gerling wrote:
> >
> > Say, Katherine, speaking of framing gum prints and gallery shows, I have
>an
> > off-the-wall (no pun intended - on second thought, that's pretty good!)
> > question for you: I love gum prints. That goes without saying. Love
> > everything about them, including the surface of the paper and how the
>gum
> > glimmers in areas where its thicker. Recently, I took the glass out of
>a
> > couple of prints and hung them up, framed, matted, and no glass. I kind
>of
> > like them that way. Is this a totally ridiculous concept for showing
>and
> > selling prints in a gallery setting?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Katharine Thayer [mailto:kthayer@pacifier.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 2:35 AM
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> > Subject: Re: A Process to Suit the Subject
> >
> > Grafist@aol.com wrote:
> > >
> >
> > > .............................................
> > > Hi Catherine,
> >
> > ..... you write, "Gum is so versatile you can adjust it
> > > to any printing
> > > aesthetic or to any subject whatever." This is a very attractive
> > concept
> >
> > With Dick's permission I'll post some images on the B&S site to
> > illustrate what I mean about the range of expression and tonal scale
> > possible with gum, when I can find some time to do that. Right now I'm
> > getting things ready for the gallery to meet publicity deadlines for my
> > upcoming show, and then there's finishing the printing and framing and
> > all that, so it won't be right away.
> > Katharine

Check out my web page at:

  http://www.SchrammStudio.com

also look at:

  http://www.wlsc.wvnet.edu/www/pubrel/photo.html

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