Jill Enfield’s Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes: Popular Historical and Contemporary Techniques (Alternative Process Photography)

At first glance I immediately liked the smaller size of this book. The important points and directions for making chemicals and equipment needed are highlighted and easy to find on the page. Each chapter is very organized and covers safety, materials and techniques and the following processes: The Digital Negative Process and other ways to make and print negatives. Anthotypes,Photosynthesis, and Lumen prints Cyanotypes Salted and Albumen prints Van Dyke brown, Kallotype, and Argyrotype prints Platinum and Palladium prints, the Maide-Ware and Ziatype technique Wet Plate Collodion Liquid Emulsion Prints and Dry Plate Tintypes Gum Printing Transfers and Decals Hand Painting photographs Multiple printing and other techniques Ceramics and photographyEach process is explained in a straightforward manner. Her directions are thorough but she encourages experimentation and gives new ways to approach them. The book is appropriate for someone new to historical processes but also is full of information and details for more experienced readers. Many images are included to help the reader visualize how to perform a technique as well as beautiful images from artists who make them. These are very helpful but also stimulate us to try and achieve them. Jill Enfield is an experienced photographer, educator and curator who is also a wonderful teacher. She excites you during her classes and this comes through in this book too. Her keen interest in her craft is passed on to us to enjoy, learn from and interpret in our own unique way through this new book.

I've got the first edition of this book (don't remember how I rated it) and liked it enough to order the second edition.Lots of stuff here with some user advice I doubt you'd get from the manufacturer. Lots of internet addresses for you to look things up at. The ones I looked at were still valid but not equally useful. It'll get you started. I'd want more information than is printed here but you get enough to find it elsewhere.

This is a fantastic book encompassing many forms of alternative photography. I have greatly enjoyed being able to get outside the prescribed narrative with these interesting methods. The writing, pictures, and flow of the book make it feel more like a cook book than a textbook but are still very academic and educational.

Jill's new book is an invaluable tool for those who like to work in the alternative processes of photography.

This is a beautiful and informative guide. I absolutely love it. Thank you Jill Enfield for all the work you put into this project!

This book is great and should be part of everybody's library!

"Jill Enfield's Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes: Popular Historical and Contemporary Techniques" is an amazingly comprehensive guide for both amateur and professional photographers. It is superbly organized and well written, with clear, easy to follow directions. Enfield combines her vast technical knowledge of alternative processes with fascinating historical information that led to the development of these processes. Throughout the book, Enfield focuses on the safety challenges that each process presents and stresses cautionary procedures that must be followed when delving into this world of chemical adventures.As a photographer and collage/mixed media artist, I was particularly impressed with the chapter on Transfers. I frequently use photo transfers in my art practice and Enfield introduced many new techniques that I am eager to try.The book is filled with compelling photographs that beautifully illustrate how different photographers use the same or similar alternative processes to create work that enhances their individual photographic style. This is a must have book for any photographer who wants to explore the creative visual possibilities of alternative techniques, while expanding and enriching their concept and practice of photography.Sheila Wolper

This second updated edition of Jill Enfield's Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes is jam-packed with detailed how-to information, complete with endless ideas and printing possibilities. Perfect for someone new to these methods, or for an advanced practitioner, the processes run the gamut from lumens and anthotypes, to argyrotypes, albumen prints, salt prints, liquid emulsion, cyanotypes, and so much more-- including the cross-processing of techniques. The imagery of over 200 practitioners is included- illustrating the past, the present, and all the possibilities for the future. If you have any interest at all in these historical and contemporary photographic printing techniques, this book is for you.