Re: 450 Lux

[Raphael Bustin <rafeb@channel1.com>]

On Fri, 5 Nov 1999, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

> Jon Cone <inkjet@cone-editions.com> writes on 5 November 1999 at 00:37:59 -0500
>  > > What ARE proper display conditions?  And are they designed for
>  > > to optimize the viewer's experience, or to prolong the longevity of
>  > > the work being displayed?
>  > 
>  > 
>  > a good question...  Eastman House for decades specified 100 LUX as adequate
>  > and safe.  Museum of Modern Art specs 50 - 100LUX.   Galleries put it up
>  > bright although there is a trend in NYC to light dim (museum style) - I
>  > think that you truly do not need 400LUX to view an artwork correctly -  you
>  > would in a gallery to maximize it -   but at home??  you'd go blind in short
>  > time from all that glare.
> 
> Depends on the artwork, but I own a number of Ctein's dye-transfer
> prints, and I've found that they just look better the more light is on
> them.  When he's been in town and doing one of his "home photo
> showings", I've brought out a 500 watt quartz-halogen to light with.
> They look better and better the brighter they're lit.
> 
> Of course for long-term display this would be a problem eventually,
> and I don't have mine on the walls especially heavily lit.  That's as
> much laziness as policy, though :-) .


Why is any of this newsworthy, or surprising?

It's always nice to have lots of bright, white
light to look at photos with.

The root problem, of course, is that this same
energy (the light, that is) is also hastening
the breakdown of the molecules that compose the
dyes and inks that form the image in the first place.

So it's a tradeoff, as usual.

This all gets back to one of the fundamental
principles of quantum mechanics.  It is 
impossible to observe a thing without
interacting with it.  That interaction always
involves an exchange of energy.  And in the
case of photos, the energy is invariably
destructive to the thing being observed.

If we wanted our photos to last forever,
we'd keep them in the dark.  But then, what
purpose would they serve?



rafe b.


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