[alt-photo] Re: an alternative to alternative

[gjh at shaw.ca]

I used the name alternative process for the list in reference to Jan Arnow's book, alternative photographic processes. Its one of the first books I read on this stuff.  That's now an old book :)

Gord
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-----Original Message-----
From: Christina Anderson <zphoto at montana.net>
Sender: alt-photo-process-list-bounces at lists.altphotolist.org
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:35:53 
To: Alt List<alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
Reply-To: The alternative photographic processes mailing list
	<alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
Subject: [alt-photo] an alternative to alternative

Dear All,

A philosophical question that I probably won't formulate well:

I've been having this discussion lately about the use of the word "alternative" in alt. The question is, alternative to what? Also, that it is an outmoded word. It doesn't mean anything. It has other connotations today. It pigeonholes us and isn't popular with gallerists. We are no longer "alternative" to the Big Yellow Brother as Kodak is bankrupt and anything goes nowadays. Etc. etc.

We just went through this ridiculous process of common course numbering at our university so that courses are named and numbered the same across the state if the course taught is the same. My course is now called "Alternative Photographic Techniques." because I couldn't come up with anything pithy, although I wanted it to be Contact Printing Processes.

The question: is what term are you using, or does "alt" continue to be sufficient? I thought what better group to ask than 500 alt listers.

Chris

Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com

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