What People Are Saying About The Book of Alternative Processes: 3rd Edition
"It's a phrase that's used too often but in this case it applies: every photographer -- everyone who cares about photography — should have this book. Even if they never open it to check a formula. Not just because this is the bible for alternative processes or that it represents the fruit of a lifetime of study, teaching and practice by a master. This is also a document of great cultural significance. In an essential way, it shows us where we are - photographically, artistically — in relation to our past and future. It casts an entirely new light on what it means to be "contemporary." Lyle Rexer - Author, Educator, Critic, Historian Author of The Antiquarian Avant Garde, The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography October 2014 "The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes: 3rd Edition is extraordinary. Not only in its scale, depth of research and richness of information, but in the way it is written. It makes complex information about chemistry and process spellbinding and weaves social and photographic history into a captivating read that is simultaneously entertaining, accessible and richly informative. This is no mean feat. As somebody who does not take photographs it has given me even more of an appreciation for those who used (and continue to use) these methods and to fully understand the beautiful magic of traditional and contemporary alternative processes of photography." Susan Bright - Author, Educator, Assistant Curator of Photography National Portrait Gallery, London Author of Art Photography Now, Auto Focus, and Home Truths "What a wonderful book! Clear and concise, with all the secrets of the dark arts in one volume. Call it the King James." Keith Carter - photographic artist, scholar, author Author of 11 books inc. Fireflies, A Certain Alchemy, Ezekiel's Horse, and Keith Carter Photographs: Twenty-Five Years. "Without a doubt this is the ultimate book on alternative photography. The 3rd edition is like meal in a Michelin 3 star restaurant... the courses keep coming, getting better and better. This is a book not only for a photographer making photographs with these processes, but an essential book for anyone concerned with photography. It should be in a handy reach of every, curator, photography dealer, art critic, and photo historian. And lastly, it's just a good read, sit back and enjoy." Dick Sullivan - artist photographer, author, chemist, entrepreneur, and founder of Bostick & Sullivan "Christopher James' new edition has expanded right alongside the boom in interest in older techniques, as more and more contemporary artists reach backward to look forward. Covering processes from the first discoveries of the 1830's to the latest inventions and re-inventions, the book includes an astonishing breadth of work and a wide range of artists that show just how rich this field has become. If you need any proof that handmade photography is alive and well in the digital age, here it is, in spades." Dan Estabrook - photographic artist, scholar "Throughout the twelve years spanned by three editions of this book, we have watched Christopher James's manual grow - at the forefront of its subject in authority and comprehensiveness - in historical content and anecdotal humour - to the point where this third edition should now enjoy the status of a magnum opus: a unique sourcebook for practising the arts of 'alternative' photography, which have recently also taken the silver-gelatin medium under their wing. Paradoxically, this renaissance of arcane analogue skills draws strength from the contemporary revolution in digital imaging technology, as James shows us, due to the ease of picture manipulation by computer and the making of large negatives by ink-jet printer. Whether your chosen photochemistry for analogue imaging is based on salts of silver, iron, or chromium, or on plant dyestuffs or on photopolymers, natural and man-made, you will find here all the pertinent instructions that you need, pleasantly enlivened by the author's charismatic style and entertaining digressions, and richly illustrated by the work of artist-practitioners, both historic and contemporary." Mike Ware - author, photographic artist, chemist, scholar "Christopher James displays in the third edition of this amazing book all of his knowledge on "alternative processes," and offers the reader its cultural history, formulas and process, and visual examples from past and present, all explained with preciseness and clarity. The most interesting feature in this new edition is that it opens perspectives for creative events, encourages the desire to explore techniques that are part of the history of photographic representation, and articulates and confers meaning on the desire of generating images in the present. Christopher's new edition allows us to visually explore existence and helps to understand the development of contemporary subjectivity." Luis Gonzalez Palma - photographic artist, author, scholar Author of 3 monographs including, Poems of Sorrow and El Silencio de la Mirada "Christopher James is a master of alternative photographic processes, and a magician at illuminating the role of the photographic image in contemporary society. Readers will be sure to enjoy James' insight, knowledge, and personable and authentic writing style." Xtine Burrough - author, photographic artist, scholar Author of Digital Foundations and Foundations of Digital Art and Design |
