How to display Polaroids in a Gallery

[Pirate]

A photo group I am in is having our first gallery exhibition in a couple weeks. I would like to hear from anyone who has seen or displayed Polaroid shots as to the best way to display them.

Being that they are unique, I would like to avoid gluing them to a backing, I want to keep them available to move around and put with different sets later on.

Thanks for any help.

 

[alienmeatsack]

I guess how depends on content, lighting, amount of shots, your all's vision for the shots etc.

I've seen them stuck up as if they are pinned by a teen collecting moments to a wall like it's a bedroom wall, I've seen them in clusters in a frame, glass frame with backlighting to make it glow, and normal frames with a darker color matte to make the images and theri white borders pop. One of those might work?

 

[shimokita]

Just went to a show with postcard size prints... each one was in a plastic case and clipped to a wire so that the prints were just below eye level. Not professional mounting, but it was a local free gallery location, so it fit the mood... the black wire on white walls kind of added to the flow around the room.

all monochrome prints...

Casey

 

[Vince Lupo]

What kind of Polaroids are they? Like the square SX70 type? If so, I've actually matted (white) and framed mine. What I've done is to cut a window that's about 1.5" bigger than the whole Polaroid all the way around, then I used archival (clear plastic) folding photo corners to mount them (so the Polaroids can be easily slipped out of them if need be). The Polaroids sit on the rear matboard, and the front matboard (the one with the larger window) acts as a 'frame' for the image. I then put the whole shebang in a thin metal frame with glass (usually 8"x10" in size). Looks simple yet classy.

 

[kiss-o-matic]

Just went to a show with postcard size prints... each one was in a plastic case and clipped to a wire so that the prints were just below eye level. Not professional mounting, but it was a local free gallery location, so it fit the mood... the black wire on white walls kind of added to the flow around the room.

all monochrome prints...

Casey

Sounds cool --- where was this gallery?

 

[shimokita]

Sounds cool --- where was this gallery?

This one....

http://poetryromance.blog39.fc2.com/

 

[nongfuspring]

Unless you want pins (which I don't think would necessarily be a good idea for polaroids in a frame) or plastic corners (OK but I generally find them a bit tacky and distracting) you will need to have them stuck in. But they don't need to be glued, in fact I'd wager that most small photos are stuck in with double sided pressure sensitive acid free tape, which is fairly easy remove photos from.

My personal feelings about polaroids is that they're different in the sense that they usually have a "frame" already and they're much more tactile as objects. So I'm inclined to suggest a floating mount (this isn't a very nice example, but you get the idea: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IiE8-RrbFi4/Tr0nr4NDrdI/AAAAAAAABOU/NVVEBNjScLw/s1600/BLOGframeIII.jpg )

Like Alienmeatsack said it all depends on what you're actually aiming to say with your photos, there are heaps of valid options. Also I wouldn't bother thinking about swapping in and out, just do what is most ideal for your pictures, if you're going to expect people to take time and look at your work then you can't make compromises.

 

[3rdtrick]

If they are packfilm prints, you could display a few in the empty film packs. It acts as a small frame. Cardboard folder frames are available but hard to find. I found a few of these cool old Polaroid frames in an old camera case. I have reproduced a few for myself. RFF won't display the Flickr image so check the link out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95514941@N04/10278171265/

You can sometimes find in old cases the stick on Polaroid cards that make the print into a postcard. You could just lay a few out on the table if you are comfortable with people picking them up to look at. Also be sure to have an old Polaroid camera in the display so the people know where the prints came from.
Pete

 

[JoeV]

Well, this isn't Polaroid per se, but I've found with the Fuji Instax wide prints (16:9 aspect ratio) that an interesting display method is to save the spent black plastic film cartridges and insert a print into the used cartridge, which will support itself standing up, or can be wall hung simply with a lightweight hook on the reverse side.

~Joe

 

[35mmdelux]

11x14 (2x) paperboard w/ image cutout, framed . Its pretty standard and looks great.

 

[Pirate]

Thanks gang, lots of great ideas here, just what I need to get the wheels turning!!

And these are the fuji pack film prints.

 

[3rdtrick]

If you need a big display, take your refrigerator and put the Polaroids on the door... Well maybe you could find the door off of an old one. The ones with the freezer on the bottom are actually would not be much bigger than someones large framed painting. It would sure get attention.

Another thing you can do is fix the prints to the pull out negative paper. This works well if you left the grungy edges when you peeled it. Are you selling or just displaying?
Pete

 

[Pirate]

I like the refrigerator door idea!

Just displaying. I may put some prices on some pieces but probably not the polaroids.

 

[3rdtrick]

Pirate, if you do use the refrigerator door, please photograph your display and post it here for us to see.
Pete