The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes 003 Edition, Kindle Edition

Wow. I thought the first edition held more information than I could ever take in. Then the second, expanded edition came out, and I was once again blown away. The third edition is so massive and packed with processes (old and new) and additional information that I hardly know where to begin. Making pinhole cameras….calotypes….anthotypes…salt prints….albumen….gum bichromate (HUGE variety)….wet plate (a chapter that could be a book on its own)….Bayard's direct positive process….carbon prints….hand-applied emulsions….various paper and other substrate preparations….and this is just scratching the surface!Christopher has a fun and entertaining way about him that translates well to the written word. He has been a teacher and mentor to many successful artists through the years, and his style is casual and easy while being very thorough. In his books, you get a little history that leads you into a chapter with everything from basic table set-ups, to different chemicals to use and how they affect the process, to different papers and other substrates, to loads of other types of information that is simply too extensive to list here. There are also many, MANY beautiful images used as examples throughout the book that intrigue and delight.This is one not to be missed!

While very expensive, this is THE book on alternative photographic processes. If you're interested in Van Dyke, cyanotype, wet plate, albumen, tintype - you'll love this book. I bought it for its platinum/palladium coverage which is also good, but I felt that was not quite as detailed. Because of the price I'd probably recommend it for photographers who are interested in multiple alternative processes - or those who want to learn the history of some or all of these processes (I loved this deep dive).The writing is witty, personable, and engaging - he's not boring, and this doesn't read like a textbook.This is NOT about silver gelatin printing, so I would not recommend to silver-only photographers/printers. It's also not about the digital negative. There are great books on creating digi negs for alternative printing, which anyone who's not shooting film or plate will probably want to read.Highly recommend.

Enough good things cannot be said about this book. The book is a high quality printed work. Image quality is fantastic. I have found some inconsistencies in the directions, so you may need to think on your feet a bit, but that's kind of the point of these prints. If you want point and click sterile images, or at least the sterile printing processes then by all means stick to inkjet. If you want to explore something that is always fresh, unique and personal, then this is the perfect guide. Full of ideas and possibilities to help spark your own. And, it is written in a personal way, not in a standard textbook fashion. It's my understanding that this is used as a textbook in some places - and it is very capable as one as well. The range of processes is truly amazing, I think it beats the entire internet by a good margin. Also for things on the fringe of this books scope, some further reading recommendations are given.

First, this is the last time you will be likely to see this book as a single volume. It's already like carrying around an unabridged dictionary. Unwieldy, yet irresistible, the next edition will be forced into two volumes (maybe three!).I waited months to get my hands on this. It was worth the wait. Extremely well-written and entertaining too, there is no doubt this is now the gold standard for what is currently called "alternative photography", but will no doubt be called something else in the near future. After all, silver based photography is in fact already an "alternative" to digital. And digital photography is now providing some of the tools needed to practice alternative techniques in greater depth.The great yellow father caused the brakes to be put on most of these "alternative" processes many years ago, and halted progress by amateurs via their repugnant secret keeping. I'm hoping that this book, and others like it, in addition to renewed interest in silver and a desire not to allow just one approach to take over again, will lead to renewed research and experimentation by photographers of all levels. If new and better processes don't result from the publication of this book, I will be very surprised.

Simply put - this is an incredible, deeply informative and READABLE book. While much of the literature on alternative processes focus primarily on methods and materials, I was interested most in the history of photography when I purchased this book. In this regard, "Alternative Photographic Processes" does not disappoint, because of the clarity with which Mr. James discusses his subjects, but perhaps more importantly - and surprisingly - it has me psyched to experiment with analog photography and hopefully take classes with the author.You will see work and learn about processes that you never could have imagined existed: anthotype and cholorphyll processes (and how some enterprising artists preserve their work in "solid blocks of resin!!), Athenatype, Ziatype - EVERYTHING! And then - you will want to see how those processes could fit into your workflow and developing artistic vision!Just get this book if you have any interest in photography at all.