The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes
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.
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
The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes Accessories
 Digital Negatives: Using Photoshop to Create Digital Negatives for Silver and Alternative Process Printing
Coming into Focus: A Step-by-Step Guide to Alternative Photographic Printing Processes
Photographic Possibilities: The Expressive Use of Ideas, Materials and Processes, Second Edition
Platinum and Palladium Printing, Second Edition
Pinhole Photography, Third Edition: Rediscovering a Historic Technique
Polaroid Transfers: A Complete Visual Guide to Creating Image and Emulsion Transfers
Primitive Photography: A Guide to Making Cameras, Lenses, and Calotypes
Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity
New Dimensions in Photo Processes, Fourth Edition: A Step by Step Manual for Alternative Techniques
Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing (Book & Disk)
The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes Reviews
It is one of the few books my students don't want to sell at the end of the semester. I have used the first edition as a textbook for the last 2 years in the experimental photography course I teach at my university. The new edition is an essential reference in the post-Polaroid world; it has expanded to include more detail in each chapter on digital negatives and gives some of the best and simplest advice I have found to date. The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes includes many examples of each process by including inspiring works created by James, his students and photographers whose work he admires. Last semester we ordered the second edition and I was very impressed by the changes. It includes examples of curves and adjustments that work best for each process. The layout of the book is very clear, making it an easy to reference while working in the darkroom.
I am a photographer and educator and refer to this book at least twice a week. Christopher James writing style is both witty and engaging. There are many books out there on alternative processes; none I have seen is as user friendly or entertaining. If you already have the first edition it is well worth the upgraded to second edition. I own three copies of this book, one for my home, one in my office, and a copy of the second edition.
It's in there. There's also a useful appendix that could be even more useful in HTML form. To be fair, this is a work aimed more at the "photo artist" than the photographer.
I have been a working photographer for forty years, and while I have come to accept digital cameras, I still miss the richness of analog printing. The author is over opinionated and sometimes plain wrong, as with his implication that solar flares will wipe out all of your CDs. There is an abbreviated account of making digital negatives, and enough on printing out papers and platinum palladium to get started. So I was excited to come across Christopher James' book and hopeful of finding a useful workflow. Apart from that, however, there's an awful lot of not very much. The contemporary prints, with the exception of Sally Mann's stunning portraits, look childish in comparison with the historic examples, and there is far too much space devoted to the cult of pinhole images and plastic cameras. The poetry is in the camera, not in the darkroom.
The book design is poor, especially considering the high cover price. If you're looking for an alternative to ink-jet printers, which by the way are getting better all the time, hit the internet and do your own research. Tod Papageorge has said that the invention of the dryplate opened the door for photography to be more like poetry and less like carpentry. If you have the leisure, and the inclination, to spend a week working on one print (I know, I've talked to some of you guys in Rockport) then you'll probably like this book.
You'd think that alternative photographic processes would be dead in this digital age, but there's still a lot of life in these fun, techniques, some of which date back 100 years or more. If you want to have fun, and rediscover some of the joy of photography, buy this book and try some of these processes for yourself.
Bascialy, for those who don't see photoshop as the be all and end all, this book brings photography alive and makes is seem.well, magical again. I'm not really one for writing reviews, but thought I would do for this book to show my appreciation for it. 'Alternative Photographic Processes' has so many ideas that you can pick and choose from, yet I enjoyed reading through the whole book start to finish, even though I don't intend trying out everything here.This would take a lifetime. It's backed up by photo history which really brings alive the processes as you try them out and keeps the maths/science/techno info to a workable minimum.
The books states that as well. Some of the process described are at this moment impossible to perform, simply because the chemicals are not available anymore; they are too dangerous. This book does excactly that what it pretends: it gives an excellent overview of al kinds of alternative processes so you can pick the one(s) you like. It does not go into detail, for that you have specific books or web information.
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