I want to have a stamp made so that I can sign and include information on the reverse of a mounted, or perhaps an unmounted photograph. I was thinking of including the following information:

o Title of photograph, if appropriate.

o Where taken.

o When taken and when printed.

o My name, and a place for my signature.

o Copyright info? (Not sure what this would be.)

o Medium? (e.g. Silver.)

What other information might I include? Do people generally use stamps of this sort on unmounted photographs? Is it advisable to use a special ink, so as not to affect the lifespan of the photo? If so, what?

Are such stamps used on unmounted photographs?

Input would be appreciated. It seems like kind of a simple query, but I had these basic questions that I wanted to address before going to the trouble and expense of having a stamp made, and then find out that I missed including some probably obvious detail.

Thanks.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), December 14, 2001

Answers

For last few years, I have printed a label which includes my name, City and State (but not my whole address), title, medium, (gelatin silver, inkjet, silver dye bleach, etc. using the real terms for its type not what you sometimes see like "B&W photo" which tells the buyer nothing)

-- John Hennessy (northbay@directcon.net), December 14, 2001.

[accidently clicked submit too soon; here is my whole post]

For last few years, I have printed a label which includes my name, City and State (but not my whole address), title, medium, (gelatin silver, inkjet, silver dye bleach, etc. using the real terms for its type not what you sometimes see like "B&W photo" which tells the buyer nothing), the negative number and date, the print number (sometimes,) and print date. Plus "Copyright © 2001 All Rights Reserved" All this comes out of my photo database and is easy to print.

I only put such labels on mounted prints, never this or anything on the back of the print itself. I sign on the front, either the border of the print in ink or the mount board in pencil. I am not sure such labels (Avery) are as archival as, say, a gelatin silver print. But if the print is not dry mounted (only corner mounted) or is a silver dye bleach anyway, I have no qualms about it.

-- John Hennessy (northbay@directcon.net), December 14, 2001.

i use two stamps on the verso of my prints. one says "photograph by james norman" and the other is the stamp for either HABS or HAER, as appropriate. i use a special archival ink supplied to me by the LOC, which is used with a balsa wood ink pad, and it is applied very lightly to the print. accession numbers are handwritten on the print verso in pencil. though this is fairly specialized, it does give you an idea that the type of ink and how it is applied is important to the archival quality of the print. obviously, no type of stick on label is appropriate, keep the stamp itself to the minimal (artist name, location, not much else, since too many things change too quickly), and any kind of information specific to the print can be added in pencil. another approach is to have an embosser made with your name/info and emboss each print in the margin - i have seen this used my a number of pros and fine artists.

-- jnorman (jnorman34@attbi.com), December 14, 2001.