Here’s a behind the scenes video with Jae Gutierrez, Senior Photograph Conservator at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson. I was fortunate to be able to spend some time with Jae back in September, when I visited the CCP Print Room with friends as part of Depth of Field. She was incredibly helpful and answered in depth all the questions I had about silver prints, platinum prints, gravures, my workflow and the presentation of my work, and reassured me that I was following the best practices. I got the two thumbs up from the conservator!

But there’s one little trick she showed me that I immediately started to use. Apologies if this is known by most, but remember, I spend my life in the dark(room).

When I attach my images to the Museum board backing I use my own mounting corners that I make out of Tyvek paper, which is strong and archival, and I attach them with Filmoplast P90 Plus tape. This is the result of running out of the correct size self-adhesive Mylar corners late on a Friday night too many times. Also, it’s much easier and the prints feel more secure. But when using the Mylar corners you have to flex the print to remove or replace it; not good when you’re handling an Edward Weston print, for example. By attaching the corners a specific way, as Jae showed me, you can avoid all that. Simple!

Simple folded Tyvek paper corner.

Corner taped with flaps underneath.

Print inserted into corner.

Top corner with flaps showing.

Flaps allow print to be removed without bending.