The value of good framing
With the passing away of both my parents I ended up with a number of framed formal wedding photos of relatives, immediate and distant, that no one else seemed to want.
Not that I am a big fan of wedding photos per see, but the longer I had these particular orphan photos, the more some of them appealed to me.
The more I looked at them, the more I appreciated the artistic talent of the professional photographers who took them back in the 1950s.
Then I began to notice that it was the poor quality frames that were hiding their quality in plain sight.
It seemed that while a lot of money had been spent on hiring a professional photographer for the occasion, not as much money had been spent on good framing.
Around the same time I had came to the conclusion that it is always best to get a professional to frame one’s art works, even if there is a high chance the works won’t sell in an exhibition.
One obvious reason is that it makes the work look much better. But just as importantly, good framing gives an artwork a higher chance of staying in a good condition.
It protects the work form UV rays to start with, but also from the minutia of decay.
For instance, once a fly spot gets on a work on paper, it is almost impossible to remove.
It also gives the work a much higher chance of survival beyond the life of the artist.
With so much art being produced these days, way beyond what room there is in people’s homes, there’s always the chance that the artwork will end up in an op shop.
By the time it gets there, the artwork has very little financial value and a buyer will rarely consider investing a large amount of money in reframing a work. So it remain in its unprotected state, continuing and even speeding up the pace of decay.
Quality framing will do a much better job of preserving a delicate work than cheap framing.
I am now a firm believer that good framing is the only way to go, even if it is expensive, as long as the artwork deserves having the money spent on it.
Framing all one’s work is likely to be well beyond most people’s budgets, but these days, every time I create a work on paper, I immediately put it in an air tight plastic bag to give it at least a bit more protection so it doesn’t collect a coat of grime, and rats or mice nibbling the edges.
Good framing does require a modicum of good aesthetic taste in the first place, hopefully shared by the artist, or owner of an artwork and the framer.
Anyways, have a look at these before and after photos of the wedding photos I had framed, and see what you think!
