Alt Photo

Posted by Tim Kassiotis in Santa Fe

Oct. 17-19, the Santa Fe Community College hosted the ninth annual Alternative Photography International Symposium. This symposium is the premiere event for those into alternative processing methods. Here is where one can discover how to make images with historic processes like salt prints and Woodbury types, or learn how to make photographs with cottage cheese.

The symposium kicked off with a critique called “Five Prints in Five Minutes.” This was an open event, inviting all members who attended APIS to show their work and receive feedback from the alternative process community. After a short break, APIS resumed with a print exchange and mingle that lasted the rest of the afternoon. Later that night, APIS moved to the SFUAD campus, where Cristina Kahlo gave a talk about the legacy of her grandfather: Guillermo Kahlo. Following the lecture, everyone moved over to Tipton Hall for a reception and showing of “Five Contemporary Photographers from Mexico” and their alternative processes work. Here students and visitors got a chance to interact with well-known, and well-versed artists such as Jill Enfield.

Friday and Saturday were full of muffins and demonstrations. These demonstrations were the heart and soul of the APIS conference, and really allowed attendees to see the process first hand and have time with the presenting artists. Two of the most impressive demonstrations were by Cristina Anderson and Richard Puckett. Anderson demonstrated how to make photographs out of some water, ammonia and cottage cheese. It may sound a little gimmicky, but this new technique she invented is on par with the quality of many modern gum prints.

Richard Puckett demonstrated how to make a Texas Chrystotype. Although no cottage cheese, this is a dry print-out process, meaning it requires no wet chemicals. This eliminates the need for a dark room with developer, stop, fix, hypo clear and all the other chemicals needed in a typical dark room. This process only requires, literally, a dark room.

To learn more about these artists or more about different alternative photography processes, visit alternativephotography.com or take a look at Bostick & Sullivan, alternative processes supply store.