Do all photos look better with a frame?

[Michael Slade]

I tend to hang pictures on my wall in a frame. Whether they are blow-ups of my own images or something I purchased, they go in some sort of low-key frame. Why the heck would a digital be any different?

It's completely different. On a wall the frame serves several purposes. It holds the print, the matt, the glass. It also gives a point that you can mount a wire on to hang it from. It also serves to isolate and distinguish it from the wall on which it is hanging.

It ought to serve aesthetically to enhance the print and work in unison with the matt and the surroundings.

Online, I see all kinds of 'borders/frames/mattes/whatever'. So far, for me, none of them work. If you want to show your work isolated from the background, then set up an environment where the ONLY thing showing is the image.

Just because the rules for displaying images on a wall work, doesn't mean that they all transpose into viewing on a screen.

This, of course, is just my opinion...based in 20 years of working in the graphic design/advertsing/photography/teaching profession. It doesn't mean my opinion is gospel...just that it is rooted in some experience.

 

[Lost Canadian]

The term "eye of the beholder" comes to mind right about now. Personally I like the look a frame gives to an online photo. This, of course, is just my opinion... based on my 29 years of simply looking at stuff.

 

[goodtimes]

I'm torn on the issue. When a photo is incorperated into a greater piece of work, I generally like a frame/border/whatever to help pull the image out from the surrounding environment. I think it makes them look nicer, digital ketsup or not. When an image is standing alone, I prefer not having a border, but prefer the background color to compliment the image...and as far as strictly viewing images on-line is concerned, I prefer websites with this sort of presentation...one image, one page, nothing else.

But as far as Blogs, trip reports, etc are concerned (when the photographs are not 100% of the content), give them a border.

Based on 34 years of being an opinionated :shakin:.

:snorkel:

 

[Ursidae69]

I completely respect your opinion as a professional, but I still disagree.

It's completely different. On a wall the frame serves several purposes. It holds the print, the matt, the glass. It also gives a point that you can mount a wire on to hang it from. It also serves to isolate and distinguish it from the wall on which it is hanging.

It ought to serve aesthetically to enhance the print and work in unison with the matt and the surroundings.

Online, I see all kinds of 'borders/frames/mattes/whatever'. So far, for me, none of them work. If you want to show your work isolated from the background, then set up an environment where the ONLY thing showing is the image.

Just because the rules for displaying images on a wall work, doesn't mean that they all transpose into viewing on a screen.

This, of course, is just my opinion...based in 20 years of working in the graphic design/advertsing/photography/teaching profession. It doesn't mean my opinion is gospel...just that it is rooted in some experience.

 

[Michael Slade]

I completely respect your opinion as a professional, but I still disagree.

And I'll fight for the right for you to disagree.