The ‘Alternative photographic processes’ Facebook group was founded in 2009, and has gathered 48.3 thousand members over the years of its existence. It is affiliated with the ‘Alternative Photography’ online community dedicated to historical photographic methods in use today.
The editor of the ‘Alternative Photography’ website, Malin Fabbri, told Bored Panda that it was started in 1999 as a result of her thesis. “To start with the focus was cyanotypes, but it very quickly expanded to include all alternative photographic processes.”
“When Facebook started and became more popular, a group was started as a way of interacting. We tried a forum first (remember those?) but it soon got littered with spam. There are now a handful of excellent moderators that take care of the Facebook group,” she added.
“The group is about sharing creative work, not pushing sales or products in people’s faces. I feel it is a go-to for getting inspiration for creative work. The website is about learning, connecting and getting inspired, and many people follow the group just for these reasons—to find articles as we publish them, connect with others and get feedback on their work or ask questions and get inspired by others who post their work,” Malin Fabbri told Bored Panda.
#5 Iron-Process Print
The description of the Facebook group reads that it’s a place for “photography as it should be: hands on, fun and inspiring”. It also expands on what are some of the alternative photographic processes that artists use, which include working with albumen, anthotype, argyrotype, carbon, bromoil, gum bichromate, gumoil, kallitype, photogravure, salt print, and temperaprint, among many others.
“Most alternative photographic processes are ‘historical’ processes, some invented in the 1840s and little has changed since,” the editor of ‘Alternative Photography’ pointed out. “There are newer ones too and they keep getting ‘invented’. What is the common denominator for all of them is to ‘get your hands dirty’. It's about mixing pigments or chemicals, coating paper by hand, exposing a print in the sun and getting really creative with the process. I think a lot of people use it to get away from their screen. They use it as a creative outlet.”
Photography as we know it is believed to date back to 1826; that’s when the arguably first photograph was taken. A French scientist named Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was responsible for that, as he took a photograph of a courtyard seen from his family’s country home—which was then titled “View from the Window at Le Gras”—that is considered to be the start of it all.
He did that using a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura, also known as a pinhole camera. Camera Obscura (Latin for ‘dark room’) is a darkened box-shaped tool with a small hole in one of the walls, which allows light to enter and create a reversed and inverted image on the other.
#9 Environmentally Friendly Alternative To Gum Bichromate Printing. Printmaker’s Friend. Size 16x24cm. Photo By Max Lissenden
#11 Oil Print (Rowlins) 27 X 47 Cm. Paper For Watercolors 32 X 50 Cm. Ink For Printing In A Printing House (Offset)
The administrators of the ‘Alternative photographic processes’ group asked its members to refrain from sharing works created with pinhole and darkroom techniques. They believe there is an abundance of groups dedicated to it, which is why they prefer to focus more on other, likely less popular, processes, such as gum bichromate, for instance.
National Gallery Of Art explained that this process is based on coating the paper with a solution of gelatin or gum arabic, potassium dichromate, and pigment and exposing it to light through a negative. This allows the light-sensitive dichromated gum to harden to some extent, depending on the amount of light it receives.
#12 Here Is A Nautical Ship Scene I Created And Then Captured In Camera Onto The Underside Of Clear Domed Glass A Few Years Ago, The Image Measuring 35mm In Diameter
Making these tiny collodion images is a labor of love. It takes a certain intensity of work in a category all it's own, which is a challenge to maintain. For me, it's a much more difficult process to capture images on small glass pieces or stone, rather than, for example, a larger 4x6" plate. Here are the reasons why for those who have an interest.
First, it's a challenge to hold on to the tiny piece while pouring on the collodion and not getting my fingers on the poured substance, as many of you in this group know collodion in it's delicate form, while wet. Each finger print is much more consequential on a smaller ambrotype vs. a larger image. Secondly, focusing in camera onto such a tiny surface takes a lot of time and patience and it's a much easier task when working with a larger, regular sized image. The focus really counts on a tiny image. Thirdly, pouring developer on a small surface, many times inhibits the developer flow, as it's optimal to have the liquid flow around the plate for 9 to 12 seconds. Larger plates allow for easier movement of the larger amount of liquid.
I hope this is interesting information for some of you photographer geeks like me. 🙂
I've cut down on making these little collodion beauties, not because I don't enjoy it, but because it truly takes a lot of intense focus, time and effort.
The same principle as that which is used for gum bichromate prints is also used with the carbon ones. National Gallery Of Art pointed out that unlike silver and platinum printing methods, which rely on the light-sensitive properties of metal salts, carbon prints also depend on the light sensitivity of dichromated gelatin.
#16 I Designed And Built My Own Camera For Ancient Processes. These Are The First Results Using The Process Called Gumoil
Gumoil printing is another unique alternative photographic process that typically results in some quite impressive artwork. Writer and photographer Terri Cappucci expanded on the method in an article for ‘Alternative Photography’, where she explained that, in short, “It is a photographic printing process that uses a sensitizing gum arabic mix and oil paint, to create a handmade photograph”.
Introduced by the American photographer Karl P. Koenig in 1990, the gumoil printing process can be frustrating because of how challenging it is, Terri pointed out. However, due to the authenticity of the craft, no two pieces are the same, which allows artists to create unique works and show off their personal style. Terri Cappucci mentioned a fellow artist, Anna Ostanina, as one of the best when it comes to gumoil printing.
The alternative photographic processes are—as stated in the group description—hands on, fun, and inspiring; however, they can also be a lot of work. Most of them require time and patience, as they usually consist of quite a few steps.
Take argyrotype, for instance, an iron-based silver printing process, which results in brown images on plain paper. According to ‘Alternative Photography’, it derives from the argentotype, kallitype, and vandyke processes of the 19th century, but has greater simplicity. Be that as it may, it comprises six steps, all of which have to be carefully executed, as any mistake made during such processes can seriously damage the end result.