I'm a photographer and not sure where I should sign and number my photo prints. I don't like the thought of signing on the print itself and all my prints are matted with no boarders so I can't sign below the print. Are art fairs that require signed and numbered prints ok if they are signed on the back of the print or should it be on the mat? If I have the same image printed in 8x10 and 16x20 does that count as the same print in my numbering or not? All my hanging large prints are printed on metal and I'm not sure if those are also required to be signed and numbered or not. If metal prints are signed what type of pen is best to sign them with?
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Numbering and limited editions also relates to our culture of price / value being relative to Supply and Demand. Therefore limited editions do, accurately affect price. Numbering is a way of tracking such.
As too COA's. I do all my own work, from conception through finished print & framing on all mediums. Many photogs out there do not. Therefore I proudly place COA's designating such on all my pieces. This also gives / substantiates value to my work.
This is not about the debate on whether or not multiple editions are exactly the same. In fact very often mine are not. I'm not perfect. Instead with limited editions and numbering, it is about a client having 1/100 versus 1,500/3,000,000.
If Ernest Oppenheimer & De Beers along with their collaborators did not control the market and limit supply of diamonds they would drop in value, tremendously.
If an artist were to abandon all ideas of “vane” we would not sign our work. Nor put signs up with our name.
We area artists but we also must understand marketing.
Numbering photos and limited editions are IMHO a vanity issue, I also find "Certificates of Authenticity" even more vane but that's another diatribe. Limited editions are basically a means by which to enhance, in the buyers eye, the value of your work. As pointed out above, numbering was used for plates or stones the surface of which would degrade with use, thus people wanted early pressings. Digital images and negatives (unless handled ruthlessly) do not degrade. However, that being said, people like to know that there are not 100M of your images out there. I for one get tired of my own images after a time and limit them, for the most part, to 50 total. Was it Edward Weston that would mount his negatives to the back of the matted image? Talk about a limited edition! As for signing the mat, once the mat is signed it is considered part of the art so if it were necessary to remat the art essentially you would be losing part of the art! I mat my photos with a 10mm paper edge reveal and sign on the right side with a Pigma 05 or Copic .45mm archival black ink pen.
By the way Weston destroyed all but 12 of his negatives at the age of 80 so that they could not be reproduced as he felt that they should only be interpreted by him. The 12 negatives that he did not destroy were reproduced by his son Cole with his explicit written directions.
I know the shows require it for photographs, but it's a silly practice as numbering was originally intended for mediums with truly limited editions where a printmaking plate of one type or another would wear down with use. However, there is virtually no limit to the number of photographs that can be produced, so for photographs or any mechanically reproduced "prints," (Giclee, Iris, or other "prints" that don't involve an artist created plate) it is meaningless window dressing and gives the photograph no additional value.
I fault the shows for not recognizing this, not the artists/photographers that are required to comply.
Thanks C. C. I totally agree. I think numbers and signatures and titles on the front of a print take away from the image especially when you have a long name (my last name is hyphenated). So the bottom of my print would say 1/25 -Title -Jessica Curning-Kuenzi 2018 which takes up the whole bottom of the print. I decided to sign and number on the back of the print itself and also on the back of the mount board. I hope art fairs don't have a problem with that. Also is it ok to sign your name using only your initials?
The practice I've used for about the last 25 years is to place title on the left of the matte, under the image and aligned with the left side of he matte opening, add the editioning in the middle directly below the matte opening, and signature/date on the right side not extending beyond the right edge of the opening. The art schools say it should be done in pencil, but I use a Pilot Extra Fine point ball point peen in black.
I sign metal prints on the back with a black Sharpie marker.
Thanks so much this really helps.
I sign and number EVERYTHING, boldly on the front of the image.
I have asked clients and my customers like the signature being seen.
I don't send out for printing so it is easy for me.
Copic markers are good. Depending on the metal method you use you can also engrave.
Despite what many others opinions, legal experts might state, I choose to use my consecutive numbering system for every print, regardless of size. Therefore if a print in 8x10 were numbered "12/???" and then I decided to print one in 16x20 it would be "13/???". I don't do 8x10 though.
If you are printing in conservation grade and they choose to change the matte, what use is having the numbering on the matte?
I believe (not sure) numbering on the back is acceptable, however how does the customer and show personnel know, unless they de-frame and look between the print and the mount-board?