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These artists pursue their vision independent of technological advancement and have discarded the notion that one must continually invest in the latest equipment to make compelling and meaningful images. They rely on what are now known as alternative, Do-It-Yourself (DIY), or adaptive photographic processes. Many pursue the craft without something as seemingly necessary as a lens. This is not to say that these artists disdain technology; instead, they embrace the idea of a hands-on photographic aesthetic that is not dependent upon materialist acquisition of goods. The direct hands-on involvement inherent in alternative techniques unites photographer and process.

It has been argued that the use of such “primitive” techniques is regressive and hinders what some consider photography’s obligation to continue its long march of technological evolution. But it could also be argued that it is only through the use of alternative and adaptive techniques that photography can be freed from the interests of corporations motivated by profit margins, shareholder interest, and a global culture of consumption driven by messages of desire, obsolescence, and acquisition. And perhaps, from this more independent perspective, photography can give insightful, meaningful commentary on the world in which we live.

Hardly a uniform endeavor, artists are applying these difficult, labor-intensive techniques and processes in a variety of ways. Some insist on a purity of means: they construct their own equipment; use film or nineteenth-century processes such as calotype, collodion, or daguerreotype as negatives; and make prints using traditional wet darkroom techniques. Others marry digital image capture with alternative-printing techniques. Still others fall somewhere within this spectrum, altering and adapting tools to achieve their vision.

In keeping with the individuality of the endeavor, images produced using these methods are not bland, homogenized products of mass production. Instead, these artists depart significantly from the status quo by allowing themselves to create printed images that are utterly unique. Rather than blindly adhering to an ethos of endless reproduction, they have consciously decided that not only is it permissible for each print–even multiple prints from the same negative–to be different, but that it is desirable. This mode of thinking conflicts with common perceptions regarding the nature of contemporary photography. For many, photographic processing has become an unthinking practice in which an image may be identically reproduced an infinite number of times by simply pressing “enter” on a computer keyboard. For those who work in alternative processes that require an intense amount of time and labor, the speed of production is not a concern. The focus is placed instead on the hands-on experience, depending on human involvement, not machinic production.

Many use photography to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world. This goal is commonly pursued through the production of images that isolate the subject, capturing it in a fraction of a second of time. For example, people are often photographed in moments of poignancy. These photographs provide documentation of an otherwise quickly passing instant. The subjects of these images appear frozen, as if they exist outside of time and apart from our world of continual flux and change.

The capturing of such moments has been a guiding aesthetic for many photographers. Henri Cartier-Bresson articulated his photographic approach in the 1952 book The Decisive Moment. Here he defined the act of photography as “… the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms that give that event its proper expression.” (2) Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s 1931 development of the electronic flash could quite possibly be seen as the apex of a photographic quest to stop action and time. Images such as Milk Drop Coronet (1957) and Bullet Through Apple (1964) depict single instantaneous events impossible for the unaided eye to see.