About us

AlternativePhotography.com is all about historical photographic methods in use today – that means mixing emulsions and coating paper by hand. Learn how to print photographs with these techniques, and share your experiences with others. We are a non-profit organization and rely on contributions from supporting members.

We have spent 23 years and 100 000+ hours developing it. Not one person gets paid to do the work, it’s all done voluntarily. 

• Learn: Artists, photographers, and other curious people can learn alternative photographic processes and we will supply the information to learn for free.
• Get inspired: In our galleries, we show artists’ work and encourage them to tell how they work, to inspire others to get hands-on. 
• Connect: Make it easier to connect with other photographers working with alternative photographic processes, all over the globe.

How it all started

It all started over 21 years ago, when I, Malin Fabbri (previously Malin Hylén) the editor of AlternativePhotography.com completed my MA in Design Studies with Alternative photography as my selected subject, at Central St. Martin’s School of Design in London in January 2000. I spent about 2 years researching the perception of images and how they compare to ordinary stock photography. That’s when I discovered and fell in love with alternative photographic processes. The process I used to do my research was Cyanotypes.

In those days, as far as the theory went it was hard to get hold of written material on the art of Cyanotypes. There were several books on the chemical process – but many dealing with the art of Cyanotypes. I only managed to find a few dusty books that I was privileged enough to have access to in the London Printing Library – including an amazing copy of Anna Atkin’s book on Cyanotypes. Thanks to the internet I was able to ‘talk’ directly to artists and some of them had websites. Just to put it in perspective: back then we used email lists and really slow modems that beeped and the discussion if images should be allowed on the internet or if it slowed it down too much was ongoing.

What was very striking was that everyone I contacted was VERY enthusiastic, sending me information, answering my questions and sharing their knowledge. Their enthusiasm really kept me going for the two years I worked on this project. When it all came to an end, I felt devastated at the thought of putting the results in the loft to gather dust. I had worked hard on collating all the information – some very hard to get hold of – and felt I had to share it with others – as people had shared with me.

The easiest way to share all the knowledge was the internet. I bought the domain name Cyanotypes.com on 8 April 2000 and published my thesis there. Some artists surfed “the net”, found the site, and asked me if I wanted to publish their images there too. I said ‘yes – why not?’ and it all grew from there.

Everyone was not working in Cyanotypes, so the name was misleading so we changed the name to AlternativePhotography.com on 22 November 2000. I never imagined it would take off as it did. In October 2002 – a year and a half later – there were 50 artists represented in the galleries on the site.  Today there are many more artists and over 900+ articles on different processes.

So, basically, this is now a site full of information on anything to do with Alternative photography and processes. The site relies on contributions from Supporting Members to cover costs – no one gets paid and it relies on the users (you) to contribute and share knowledge and to participate in the community. 

Help us grow even more

We don’t charge for learning and we don’t get paid. We do this because we love doing it – and we also believe learning should be free. We want to do photography as it should be: hands-on, fun and inspiring. We want to make it easier to connect with other photographers working with alternative photographic processes. But we really appreciate it if you help us with the running costs of the site. Please click here to help funding the site or click here to link to us.

We hope you enjoy it.

– Malin Fabbri, Editor, June 2020

Get the t-shirt and show your love for alt. proc.!

 

In the press

Interview with Malin Fabbri in Cameradiere camera clubs newsletter September 2021, see page 20-21.

The logo

The logo is an old symbol for salt. Apart from salt being an ingredient in many of the processes, the handmade feel of the logo also represents the alternative processes. And we like to have fun: