Seeing that I have attended several portfolio reviews now (and am presently in the process of preparing for Review Santa Fe, which is coming up in June) and my prints are likewise on Epson Exhibition Fiber, I actually feel qualified to answer this question.
In my case, I've chosen to show loose prints and not once has anybody criticized me for this. In fact, just the opposite has happened, as several reviewers have told me they prefer to see unmounted prints in this context. I do know that bringing loose prints saves quite a bit of weight and as you'll end up carrying your portfolio around with you all day long, a little bit of weight savings pays definitely dividends by the end of the day.
At first, I initially chose to use interleaf sheets, but this seemed to slow the review process down, so I abandoned them in the middle of the first review I did and now cross my fingers about the amount of wear-and-tear they will receive. Do bring a soft brush with you so that you can tidy them occasionally during the course of the day and if sequencing is important to your presentation, then I suggest you number your prints in pencil on the back so you can quickly reorganize them between reviews as they do tend to get shuffled around a bit during the review process.
I have also chosen to carry mine around in an aluminum case made by Pina Zangaro (the Camden series at
http://www.pinazangaro.com/products/presentation_display_and_storage.html and Adorama sells 'em, too) as I find these to be both rugged and stylish. Initially, I was showing 12x16 prints on 13x17 paper, but found them to be borderline too large for the space available, so I brought 9x12 prints on 11x14 paper to the next few reviews, but I ultimately deemed these to be too small to show my images to full advantage. So for the last review, I decided to throw caution to the wind and brought along 15x20 prints on 17x22 paper and although this proved a bit unwieldy at times, none of the reviewers complained and I will be bringing this size print to Review Santa Fe as well.
I would also recommend that you prepare something to leave behind with each reviewer so they have something to connect you with your images later on. In my case, I prepare a handful of small cards (~5x7) which contain various of the images I’m showing as well as my contact info. I gang-print these on a large sheet of Epson Exhibition Fiber and then trim them to the final size, so this is a fairly quick and inexpensive solution. Be sure to bring plenty of extras, too, as you’ll invariably end up passing them out to your fellow review participants.
I hope this answers your questions, but if not, feel free to drop me a note. Good luck!
