finally cut into the photo I'd been hoarding for two years
There was one print in the box of my brother's things I never touched. Him on a dock somewhere, badly lit, half his face blown out, the corner torn where it got wet at some point. Two years of moving it from folder to folder. I'd take it out, look at it, put it back.
Tonight I taped it to the board and cut it in half. Straight through him.
I don't fully know why that felt like the right move, and I'm not going to pretend I do. The left side with the dock and the water is going into a wash tomorrow, the right side goes under glass with nothing else on it. Maybe it's a bad idea. It's the first thing in months that didn't feel like busywork.
anyway. into the studio at 6 to see if it still holds up in daylight
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Cutting straight through him is the part that gives me pause, and I think you already know that, since you wrote it plainly instead of softening it. Two years of not touching the print is its own kind of holding on, and I suspect the cut is less about the photograph than about being able to put it down.
One practical note, since you mentioned washing the left side: check whether it's a resin-coated or fibre print before it goes in the water. Fibre will take a wash and come out better for it. Resin-coated will just sit there and the emulsion can lift at that torn corner. If you're unsure, test a sliver from the edge first.
I hope the right half under glass gives you what you're after. Nothing else on the paper is a strong choice.
The RC point is the one that matters. Test on the torn corner first, a drop of water and a tissue, see if it beads or soaks. If it beads, leave it dry and mount it as it is.
The cut itself, I don't think it's a bad idea. Half is often the whole thing. A photograph with nothing else on the mount gives the water and the dock room to be what they are. I'd have done the same.
Half is often the whole thing. I'm going to be repeating that to myself for a while.
And yeah, the corner already told me. Beaded right up, so the left side stays dry. Which is a relief and also a little disappointing, part of me wanted to watch it soak and see what the water did to the water.
The dry mount is the plan now. Nothing else on it.
It's RC. I checked after the fact like an idiot, but the corner beaded up right away so nothing went near the tap. Left side stays dry and goes down as it is, tear and all. Which honestly might be better, I was already a little in love with that torn corner.
The part about putting it down is close. I think I cut it because I couldn't stand it being whole and mine again. Halves you can work with. Whole, it just sat there and looked at me.