Alternative process explained

The term alternative process refers to any non-traditional or non-commercial photographic printing process. Currently, the standard analog photographic printing process for black-and-white photographs is the gelatin silver process.^[1] Standard digital processes include the pigment print, and digital laser exposures on traditional color photographic paper.

Alternative processes often overlap with historical, or non-silver processes. Most of these processes were invented over 100 years ago and were used by early photographers.^{[2] [3]}

Many contemporary photographers are revisiting alternative processes and applying new technologies (the digital negative) and practices to these techniques.

Examples

• Anthotype
• Caffenol
• Daguerreotype
• Gum bichromate and other Pigmented Dichromated Colloids which are used to directly generate a photographic print
• Platinum Process and Palladium Process
• Carbon print and various similar processes which use a non-sensitive intermediate layer to generate a photographic image
• Van Dyke Brown, Cyanotype and various other iron-based processes
• Wet and Dry Plate processes based in silver using a hand coated emulsion on a tin or aluminum (tintype) or glass (ambrotype) base
• Resinotype and several similar processes which rely upon unexposed dichromated colloids to accept an insoluble pigment
• Inkodye, a light-oxidized vat dye.
• Oil pigment processes, such as bromoil process
• Other processes which use silver halide but in various different ways other than the typical silver-gelatin formula, such as Salt Print
• Any number of processes which use more exotic materials, such as uranium chloride, gold chloride, and any number of other salts to directly or indirectly generate a photographic print
• Non standard digital manipulation or printing.

Learning

These schools and photography centers offer a variety of alternative process workshops and classes.

• Alternative Processes Academy
• The Image Flow
• Maine Media
• Penland School of Crafts
• Santa Fe Workshops
• Photographer's Formulary

See also

• Photographic processes
• Lo-fi photography

External links

• - a platform with articles, interviews, tutorials and a global community built around Alternative Processes in photography
• AlternativePhotography.com - a free information site on alternative photographic processes
• Alternative Process Photography on Geotog.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: An Introduction to Photographic Processes . 2023-08-17 . The New York Public Library.
2. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2687&context=syllabi
3. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1549&context=srhonorsprog