Although I live less than two hours north of Manhattan, there is no such
thing as a "local" camera store with an adequate stock of "normal"
materials, much less anything appropriate for alternate process. (BTW,
Dye Transfer is most definitely an alternate process now since Kodak has
abandoned support of the basic supplies and chemicals).
I mail order (acutally phone and credit card) film and standard silver
printing supplies from the big supply houses like B&H, and the more
unusual alternate process materials from Bostick & Sullivan,
Photographer's Formulary, etc. I don't know what problems there are
ordering this way across the Canadian border. You might be interested to
know that my wife, who is a painter, has the same problem and can't find
proper materials at any reasonably nearby art supply stores. She has to
mail order professional quality oil paints, premium canvas and linen,
good brushes, even stretchers in odd-number inch sizes! These art supply
stores carry no papers useful to me for platinum printing, either.
<<<I see two trends emerging in society. First, there seems to be
a return to "traditional" arts and skills - eveyrthing form home brewing
of
beer to quilting to amature blacksmithing and on and on and on.
Secondly,
despite there being a new shopping mall built on just about every major
street corner in the US & Canada, the actual range of mechandise
avaialbe
for people to buy seems to be shrinking. In almost every case, supplies
for "traditional" arts are hard to obtain.>>>
Right on the mark.---Carl