In reference to the new Harman gloss paper, someone wrote that since imaages sit behind glass it doesn't really matter whether you use glossy paper or not. I agree that a sheet of glass in front of a print almost completely removes the advantage of the gloss surface and its higher D-Max and richer tones.
That then raises the question of whether in fact we should have glass in front of our images. A number of galleries prefer to display photographs without glass in front. It's frankly a bit scary - a good sneeze and you could be facing a ruined print and possibly a dry mounting job too.
Still, there's nothing quite like looking at a print in hand,with nothing between you and the print, and perhaps it's worth the cost and risk to be able to do that in some situations.
The prints I frame for personal display never have glass/plexi in front of them, because I think it detracts from the presentation - especially in the case of prints on rag paper.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "sneeze" risk, if painters don't put glass in front of their works I don't see why photographers should. Besides, I can easily make another print if something happens.
Jeff makes a very good point - those of us making inkjet prints should stop thinking of prints as holy relics.
ReplyDeleteGeorge