Papers

I print my images onto a very specific matt paper.  It is a 100% cotton fine art paper with a neutral pH and an ultra smooth surface.  I like the way the images are represented on this particular paper when using my chosen pigment inks and there is an excellent subtlety in the tonal variations.

The print is the last process in a very long chain of photographic processes and decisions, and comes with its own set of complications.  As such the printer/pigment ink/paper combination will be either the successful culmination of these processes or their ruination.  This is why I sell prints and not image files.  If I left the decisions about printing to a third party, the resultant image would no longer be mine.  Image by committee is not what I’m about.

A comment on handling.  A picture, whether it is a painting or a photographic image is not finished until it is appropriately housed in a frame.  I don’t think there is any question about this.  I have yet to see an image improved by leaving out the mount and the frame.  My suggestion, is a double off white mount and a simple glossy black frame.  You may well have your own preferences but if you don’t, you can’t go far wrong with this suggestion.  It will suit any photographic image and hang in pretty much any environment, classical or modern, but as you will see I have added some further suggestions for each image.  Now, back to that comment on handling.  Prints are delicate things especially the matt finishes.  If you pass your finger across a matt image you may well leave a witness mark.  Please tell your framer to be very careful.  These are limited edition prints.

I can almost hear cries of, “If they’re so fragile, then why not use a different paper?”  The answer is simple.  I would if I could achieve the image quality I demand by doing so.  The quality of the image is the important thing, not its ability to be clumsily handled.