Polystyrene mounting

I ran into a photographer this weekend who mounts his photos on polystyrene. Wondering what your thoughts are on this.

Isn't that just foam core/board? I believe that is probably the number one product used for providing a backbone to photos on paper, isn't it?

They are pretty versatile, you can add a mounting block behind it to get the print off the wall, and you don't need a frame.

Perhaps this is something different though that your friend is using?

Polystyrene foam board is common, especially with those mounting photos, but you can also get polystyrene sheets (non-foamed). It lasts forever, is very stable until you heat it to about 250f.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18905422
Isn't that just foam core/board? I believe that is probably the number one product used for providing a backbone to photos on paper, isn't it?

They are pretty versatile, you can add a mounting block behind it to get the print off the wall, and you don't need a frame.

Perhaps this is something different though that your friend is using?

gjl711 wrote in post #18905435
Polystyrene foam board is common, especially with those mounting photos, but you can also get polystyrene sheets (non-foamed). It lasts forever, is very stable until you heat it to about 250f.

It was the polystyrene sheet, not the foam core (which I'm used to). I didn't know about the sheets. I'm going to give them a try. I guess you really can learn something new every day.

Nice, I will have to look into the sheets as well.

Back when I was a model maker/machinist, long long ago, polystyrene was our go-to material. It thermoforms fantastically and once it cools, retails it's shape forever. It can be scored with a knife and snapped to break a lot like glass. It is rather bendable unlike foam board and will not support itself vertically well meaning, it needs a ridged frame. Another downside is that it does discolor (turns a yellow and not a pleasant yellow, more like pee) when exposed to UV and just over time. For a backing I think it would work fine but for a matte, not so much.