The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes

The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes Overview

Photographic artists and students of alternative process photography will welcome this new edition of Christopher James' The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. This significantly expanded edition is a full-color, lavishly illustrated, comprehensive resource that explores every aspect of alternative process image making. With his highly conversational writing style, Christopher James explores the techniques, processes, idiosyncrasies, history, and cultural connections that are such a significant part of the genre. Best of all, Christopher makes it extremely accessible, providing clear instructions and practical workflow advice. The book delves into a vast menu of alternative and traditional options, among them: calotype, salted paper, cyanotype, argyrotype, chrysotype, POP, kallitype, ambrotype/wet collodion, Van Dyke, platinum/palladium, Ziatype, gelatin dry plate emulsions, carbon, gum bichromate, albumen, hand-applied emulsions, paper, alternative imaging systems, and digital negative production for alternative process image making. The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes has become the unanimous standard reference text for alternative process photography, one that students love to read and work from. Not only does this definitive work make the most complex ideas easy to understand, it is conversational, comfortable, inspirational, and fun to read- a tremendous resource and a treasure trove of alternative process images.

The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes Specifications

Pssst, wanna make a weird photograph? How about a moody blue cyanotype or a Kallitype? Or maybe a ziatype, anthotype, or Ambrotype? Or perhaps you'd just like to know more about image transfer processes or how to make a pinhole camera. Imagine knowing a really cool guy who casually tells you lots of valuable stuff about the history and science of photography while you're working in his experimental darkroom, and you've got the essence of the unusual and delightful Book of Alternative Photographic Processes. Christopher James, a photographer and former Harvard University professor, leads you carefully through the chemistry and use of materials for each process. He offers numerous ways to make negatives and prepare the printing paper, and he coaches you in understanding and accepting the enormously variable effects of each method. Seven useful appendices deal with such topics as safety considerations and resources on the Web. Unlike the narrowly task-oriented approach of average how-to guide, this one points you to a much bigger world. Even the illustrations include a generous assortment of contemporary prints--among them James's own inventive images--as well as work by 19th- and early-20th-century photographers. They were the ones who pioneered most of the techniques that are now considered "alternative."

The fun of this book--even for someone unlikely ever to set foot in a darkroom--lies in the author's fascinating excursions into the wide world of knowledge, from the workings of 3-D to Charles Babbage's steam-driven punch-card systems. Equally compelling are the author's sense of humor and his utter lack of dogmatism. "In gum printing," he writes, "there are very few absolutely correct ways to do anything." --Cathy Curtis

Customer Reviews

Christopher James was my teacher, guide, and mentor in the early 90s. As students we used an earlier version of this text, photocopied and bound in plastic binders. In retrospect, I can't believe how lucky I was to be in his classroom. The first and second editions of this text read beautifully - you really feel as though you are in the classroom with Christopher while reading his voice. I just used his chapter on cyanotypes as a refresher before working on a body of work and was so happy to see new information about creating digital negatives. Put this book on your shelf because there is so much invaluable information between the covers, because it's loaded with inspirational artwork, and because reading it is such a friendly experience. -- xtine burrough, co-author, Digital Foundations: Intro to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Suite (AIGA Design Press), [...]

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