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I helped my mother hang some photos today and was curious about one of them. She had placed a photo (in this case 5"x7") in a frame that was much larger (8"x10"). In my opinion it looks strange and awkward with so much empty space—which I feel is wasted—but she insists that it is actually a style.

Does anyone know of this style? Is there a term for it?

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    FWIW, I don't think an 8x10 frame is large for a 5x7 photo. That's only a 1.5" mat on each edge. – coneslayer May 13 '12 at 1:18
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    I have to admit, I don't think this is a photography question. Interior design? yes. Photography? No. – John Cavan May 13 '12 at 3:03
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    I would say printing and framing is part of the art, yes. I spend a lot of my time printing, matting, and framing my photography, and I consider it a part of being a photographer. – jrista May 13 '12 at 3:10
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    @John: Just because it can apply to other forms of image display, that doesn't change the fact that photography is also displayed that way. The question is also explicitly about framing photos, not paintings or anything else. The possibility of broader use does not eliminate a narrower use and therefor make a topic unworthy of our site. – jrista May 13 '12 at 3:49
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    @John, well, there are 10 questions tagged as framing, and most of them are about actual frames as opposed to blocking, so framing does indeed seem to be considered a part of photography. – Synetech May 13 '12 at 4:50
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That's a perfectly accepted and normal style of mounting a print - known as 'matting' a print. The border around just further draws your eye to the photo.

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  • Well then I guess I’ll have to apologize (and on Mother’s Day too). :-D – Synetech May 13 '12 at 4:53
  • @synetech No, you just gift her a picture she likes framed in the same framing style that you commented earlier. :) – Regmi Apr 18 '13 at 17:39

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