Face-mounting is a framing method that is particularly well-suited for my prints. The face of the print is mounted directly to an acrylic glazing with a special adhesive, and then back-mounted to a substrate with hanging hardware. The resulting piece is extraordinary with a frameless, contemporary look.
I use A Street Frames outside Boston for face-mounting. Typically, they use Acrylite Gallery Non-Glare P99 for glazing and anodized aluminum for the substrate and hanging hardware.
Face-mount prints are made on a glossy photo paper that is required for the face-mount process. Since the prints cannot be removed from a face-mount, they are technically not archival prints. Nonetheless, with the inherent stability of HDX pigment inks and UV protection built into the face-mount process, these prints have excellent longevity characteristics.
Face-mounting appears to offer additional protection for prints over traditional framing methods. Print longevity in the face-mount process is enhanced by protection from humidity, ozone, and dust as the print is sealed between the glazing and the substrate in an airless environment.
Do you have a project that needs special attention? Is it a very large idea? Does it need to be delivered to a part of the world that I do not normally visit? Reach out with a phone call or an email.
All of my prints are made by Bob Korn on an Epson SureColor P9000 printer using Epson UltraChrome HDX pigment inks. We use Moab Entrada Rag paper unless another paper is specified.
Epson UltraChrome HDX pigment inks represent the pinnacle of photographic ink technology development. Wilhelm Imaging Research has given a permanence rating of up to 200 years for color prints made with HDX inks on high quality paper and framed with adequate UV protection.
My panoramic images are commonly printed at large sizes. Each frame of each image can be made up to 30x40” and more. The largest images I have made so far are composed of 40x60” prints of each frame.
Do you have an idea for a commissioned image? Get in touch with an email or phone call to discuss.
You may be wondering about the vertical spaces, or gaps, in my panoramic images. They are at once both an artifact of my process and a solution to the challenge of framing a very large piece.
I make these images using a view camera and sheet film. In order to make panoramic images, I use multiple sheets of film that line up with each other. In a nutshell, the spaces are where the edges of two sheets of film meet.
If you have ever seen the edge of piece of film, sheet film or roll film, then you know that the image does not go right to the edge. If you are looking at a negative, then you see the clear orange film base. If you are looking at positive film (transparency or slide), then you see black.
Film is plastic, and it tends to curl. It would not be possible to make images that are actually in focus if the film were to curl. Therefore, film cameras are designed to hold the film flat. The structure(s) that hold the film flat prevent light from exposing the film. By the way, the unexposed film edge is called the rebate.
I am a photographer. I am also an ecologist.
When I am not making photographs, I am with my family on Cape Cod. My wife and two young boys bring joy and balance to my life. We go on adventures. We stay at home. We have too many interests and passions and try to do it all!
Most art is either entertainment or propaganda. Neither type of art is based on the truth. True art inspires the heart to remember its journey and offers a map for the perplexed soul.
A map is a device designed to enable passage from one place to another. Beholding a map, a person stands ready to enter liminal space, a temporary place one occupies during a passage.
When I make one of my signature panoramic photographs, I enter liminal space, and I return. The image I capture is akin to a map. It is designed to be more than a beautiful image. It is designed to illuminate a path.
I will give you an example. I once received an email from a physician working in a hospital. This person told me that it had become their practice to visit one of my images when they needed to settle difficult thoughts or feelings. To overcome a challenge. To pass through a difficult time.
A boon is not guaranteed to every viewer every time, but it is offered.
When I am not making photographs, I am with my family on Cape Cod. My wife and two young boys bring joy and balance to my life. We go on adventures. We stay at home. We have too many interests and passions and try to do it all!
You may be wondering about the vertical spaces, or gaps, in my panoramic images. They are at once both an artifact of my process and a solution to the challenge of framing a very large piece.
I make these images using a view camera and sheet film. In order to make panoramic images, I use multiple sheets of film that line up with each other. In a nutshell, the spaces are where the edges of two sheets of film meet.
If you have ever seen the edge of piece of film, sheet film or roll film, then you know that the image does not go right to the edge. If you are looking at a negative, then you see the clear orange film base. If you are looking at positive film (transparency or slide) or a print, then you see black.
Film is plastic, and it tends to curl. It would not be possible to make images that are actually in focus if the film were to curl. Therefore, film cameras are designed to hold the film flat. By the way, the unexposed film edge is called the rebate.
When I began defining my process, I was enamored of Henri Cartier-Bresson. There is much to say about this great artist, but the important bit here is that he inspired me to show the film edge in my prints.
When you see the film edge in a print, then you are being told that the composition was made in the camera not by cropping during printmaking. It is both a statement of the artist’s vision and technical proficiency in one fell swoop.
When a photographer is able to do it as well as Cartier-Bresson did, it requires full immersion in the capture of the image. Cartier-Bresson famously coined the phrase, “decisive moment,” to describe a successful photograph.
Yes, my prints are made to the highest archival standards possible. That said, prints made for face-mounting are different than prints made for traditional framing methods.
All of my prints are made on an Epson SureColor P9000 printer using Epson UltraChrome HDX pigment inks.