Framing Fohar and Small Prints: Updated with Final Results

Now that I have completed a session of printing comes the time to select images and decide on framing. I have what I guess one would call a trademark format for framing and as a result I found myself out in the garage making some frames. I have a simpler stripped back framing system I use for many prints. No glazing, wooden frames that are blackened with the Japanese technique of yakisugi. 

This time I am enjoying smaller prints made on 5x7" (13x18cm) Fohar Bulgarian paper. This leaves a question about framing and proportions. I started out with a simple 5x7 frame but found it was difficult with the narrow 1/4" borders, the deep brown of the print blending too much with the frame. 

Mock-up of 5x7 Frame

So, I made a new frame that allowed for a wide mount (matte) frame. I have mocked this up below with a paper version of the mount to see if I liked it. I have an order of properly cut mount board to fit in the frames. The beauty of these frames is the rebate for fitting the photo can take the thickness of the Bristol board I mount the photo to, plus the mount board frame, and optionally thin acrylic or glass glazing if desired.  

Mock-up of wider mount board version.

These proportions are much nicer, and it will be great with a proper mount board fitted to it. 

Since I liked the smaller 5x7" frames I realized I should print on the 5x7 paper with a larger border. With this in mind I went back to the darkroom and made some new lith prints. Here is an example. I opted for 1" (25mm) borders all around leaving a 3" (75mm) x 5" (125mm) image in the center. Normally I would leave this alone and use the photopaper as my matte (mount) but this paper is old and has some foxing around the edges so I will use a mount board on top to mask off the paper. 

Large borders (1"/25mm)

This particular image I conspired to imitate and accident on the previous print run where the print was unevenly developed. This resulted in shading that gave an idea of light slanting in from outside the print. In this case I burned a triangular section on the bottom right of the image which very effectively gives a look of shading. 

Original 'accidental' print

One of these new images I blue toned and intended to use it without a mount board. There was iron toner discoloration on the paper which I knew I could clean up with some ammonia. The difficulty was to keep the ammonia away from the image. I decided to mask the image off and apply some polyurethane varnish to waterproof the image. Once this dried I could with the ammonia on the borders knowing the image was protected. Once the stains were cleaned up I then rewashed the print in a slightly acidic water bath (a pinch of citric acid in the tray) to remove any ammonia and stabilize the image. I represent this here framed though I will probably use a mount board on this one as well. 

Blue toned print with varnish and ammonia cleaning.

Finally, an untoned version. 

Untoned version.

I will post an update of the finished frames with mounts when they arrive. 

Updated Material 

I got the mount boards back and fit them to the prints and frames. Since I orderd extra I framed an additional Fohar print I really liked in the wider mount style. It feels good to have these up now. Below are some snapshots of the results. 

And in context in the 'Gallery'...