Thank you for another wonderful year!
Thank you all artists and contributor for contributing to the website this year!
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Contemporary Practices in Alternative Process Photography – book series
Christina Z. Anderson is the editor of Routledge‘s book series Contemporary Practices in Alternative Process Photography with so far no less than 9 titles (update: now 11) on alternative photographic processes, and more coming. Malin Fabbri interviews Christina Z. Anderson. Photography / Christina Z. Anderson, Kelly Gorham Between writing books, doing workshops, teaching and printing your own images, how do you find the time to edit 9 books? Christina Z. … Read more
World cyanotype day – last Saturday in September
Once a year the cyanotype gets special attention. Since 2015 the cyanotype is celebrated on the last Saturday in September in the yearly event World cyanotype Day (WCD for short). The next time is the 30th of September 2023. Subscribe to the Cyanotype Newsletter, and you will be notified. Beginner or seasoned cyanotyper, don’t hesitate to take part!. How to take part in World Cyanotype Day 2023 – with the … Read more
Anthotypes, colouring and food colouring
An excerpt from Anthotypes – Explore the darkroom in your garden and make photographs using plants. Pigments normally thought of as food dyes can also be used to make photographs.
Xerolithography – transfers using paper
Xerolithography is a lithography process but simpler than using plates. It’s an easy process to experiment with and has the option to add colours with different inks. Writer and photography / Palle Lindgaard-Jørgensen Xerolithography is a fairly simple process, where it is paper (originally a xerox copy and not stone like in normal lithography) which is used to print from. The principle of the process is that “fat shuns water”, … Read more
World Cyanotype Day 2021 – all the links you need
World Cyanotype Day 2021 is now over. 427 cyanotypes were entered in our online gallery – and really made the day. There is just so much inspiring work! We would love to get your feedback on the event, please comment below! Make a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy the show. These are the links where you can find inspiration. See this year’s Gallery here: 👉 https://www.alternativephotography.com/gallery/gallery-by-process/world-cyanotype-day-2021-gallery-rejuvenation/ See artists … Read more
A good starting point for cyanotypes – learn the process
Cyanotypes are those blueprints you have probably seen. It is the best way to get started and learn alternative photographic processes. The process is easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master. The cyanotype process is easy to learn, and a good starting point for anyone who want to learn more about alternative photographic processes. Here are some steps to take when you want to learn the cyanotype process: … Read more
World Cyanotype Day 2021, 25th September – can it possibly get BIGGER?
The 25th of September 2021 is World Cyanotype Day. Last year there were 265 artists taking part here from 50 different countries. Can this year possibly get BIGGER? Well, start by preparing, you have plenty of time to really think of the theme and make something NEW, and the theme this year is “Rejuvenation”. Enter your work in the gallery at AlternativePhotography.com: AlternativePhotography.com/gallery/gallery-by-process/world-cyanotype-day-2021-gallery-rejuvenation/ There are many more ways to take … Read more
Gum Diazo Printing v1.4
Writers / Maurizio Pizzigoni, Salvatore Abate and Simone Simoncini Research / Mr. Travis Pugh Photography / Simone Simoncini The present paper aims to be a reference guide to anyone in the EU willing to go on printing with pigmented gum while being fully compliant with the actual safety regulations regarding chemical substances (i.e. avoid the use of dichromate, illegal as of September 2017 in the EU). 1) Preface It is well known … Read more
Edd Carr creates what may be the first cyanotype video ever made
Edd Carr has created what may be the first cyanotype video. He was commissioned by Globe town Records in London to make a music video for Tycho Jones, and did so making over 5000 frames in cyanotypes and animating them. The music is melodic and has a nice beat and the cyanotypes are stunning. The video also deals thematically with birds and their relationship to culture and the climate crisis. … Read more
How Carol Hayman works with photo intaglio plates
There are many variations to how artists work with their processes, here Carol Hayman describes her process when working with photo intaglio plates – also called photo etching and photogravure. Writer and photography / Carol Hayman My journey with polymer plates is a path along with the evolution of technology – the plates, transparencies, copy machines, PhotoShop, and digital cameras. The process is also called photo etching and photogravure. Real … Read more
Anthotypes – instructions to making a print using plants
It is possible to print photographs using nothing but juice extracted from the petals of flowers, the peel from fruits and pigments from plants. We’ll show you how.
Elizabeth Opalenik Workshop Stories and how she came to Mordançage
Elizabeth Opalenik shares her love of the Mordançage process and discusses memorable workshop stories from her new book featuring over 100 iconic photographers. Writer and photography / Elizabeth Opalenik Why is mordançage your favorite process? Elizabeth Opalenik: When something strongly resonates with you in photography you tend to remember your first encounter. I was mesmerized in 1982, the first time I held a mordançage print of crystallization and photogram from … Read more
Meet the moderators of the AlternativePhotography.com Facebook group
Many of you (30 000 as of April 2021) are already members of the AlternativePhotography.com Facebook group. Meet the moderators – the heroes that keep the group on topic. In the past we tried forums running forums – that got littered with spam and an unmoderated group – same story, then volunteers stepped in and started moderating the AlternativePhotography.com Facebook group, now we can all enjoy a spam-free on topic … Read more
Is your drop the same size as mine?
Have you ever wondered if the size of a drop is always the same? The short answer to the question of the size of a drop is that the volume of a drop usually does vary, in fact depending on 10 different factors. This is of course relevant to alt. proc. because recipes often specify “20 drops”, “20 gtt” or “20 gt” which also means drops. Writer and photography / … Read more
Bladderwrack seaweed developer for black and white film
Seaweed developer offers an alternative to using store-bought developer and is very similar to the Caffenol-C film development process. This developer is designed for black and white film, with 400 ISO. Melanie King developed this recipe as part of the Sustainable Darkroom online residency, with the London Alternative Photography Collective. Writer and photography / Melanie King Developing with a seaweed developer is more sustainable than shop-bought developer. As with all foraging, … Read more
The history of anthotypes
An excerpt from Anthotypes – Explore the darkroom in your garden and make photographs using plants. How the anthotype was discovered.
Happy 21st birthday to us!
Today we are 21 and officially grown up – wherever in the world you are! It’s unbelievable, but we have been here for 21 years, so Happy birthday to us AND to you. Some of you have been with us from the very start, and that we thank you extra for. We also welcome our new visitors, now over 80 000 visitors per month on AlternativePhotography.com! Over the years we … Read more
Chlorophyll printing and pigments
Chlorophyll printing is a sustainable photographic process using plants and pigments to develop a print or a cameraless photogram. Almudena Romero shares her knowledge of the process. Writer and photography / Almudena Romero Since the 1840s, artists have used organic techniques to produce photographs, sometimes using flowers, as is the case in anthotype printing, and sometimes by blocking or exposing plants to UV light. A lot can be learned about … Read more