Re: We are not the alternative

Luis Nadeau ( nadeaul@nbnet.nb.ca)
Sat, 11 January 1997 5:59 PM

Peter Marshall wrote:
..

>Alt-processes have 'traditionally' included such silver processes as the
>kallitype, so I think non-silver doesn't really cover the area.

It doesn`t indeed.

>So with far as purchasers are concerned I think we need to stick to the
>specific and recognised process names boom - such as gum bichromate, platinum
>etc.

An umbrella term better than Alternative will be difficult to come up with.
>From a marketing nt opoif view however I can see why Classical is more
interesting. I think I can say that I like restricting myself to this area
of activity. For that matter, I restrict myself to non-silver.

Many others enjoy Polaroid transfers and that's fine too. Just because it`s
not my cup of tea does not mean it shouldn't exist.

>Personally I'm quite happy with the term 'alternative processes' to cover the
>whole range of processes which this group embraces. Classical would hardly
>cover the new chemistry that Mike Ware and others have introduced over the
>past ten or so years.

Yep. I think it is fine for Platinum Plus Gallery and perhaps Bostick &
Sullivan and myself to limit their activities around Classical Photography
but I certainly wouldn't want the name of this list changed (not that it
has been proposed) as it wouldn't be representative of what is going on
here.

...

>Perhaps we might make things a little clearer by calling it alternative
>printmaking, as - with few exceptions - we are concerned with this aspect of
>the photographic procedure, and still use conventional methods for negative
>production.

Negative, internegative and color separation methods are quickly moving
away from conventional silver systems. I read somewhere that by next summer
Epson will have a low end ink-jet printer ($350 +/-) capable of 1,400 dpi.
One should be able to make decent internegs out of that, comparable to what
the Iris can do today. About 200 copies of the 3rd edition of my platinum
book came with a beautiful small print made from an Iris interneg at 300
dpi, interpolated at @ 1,800 dpi, (screenless). This technology is not
"promising". It's here now and perfectly usable! It's just a matter of
making it more affordable.

If anyone here has gotten *excellent* results producing internegs from a
low end printer, contact me offlist. You may be featured in one of my
upcoming books or lectures.

Luis Nadeau
nadeaul@nbnet.nb.ca
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
http://www.micronet.fr/~deriencg/nadeau.html
http://www.primenet.com/~dbarto/lnadeau.htmla

----------