Welcome to Alt Cameras
Welcome to Alt Cameras. This publication will focus on alternative cameras and everything related to using these cameras today. It will explore making pictures using contemporary materials, classic techniques and digital technology. A wide range of cameras will be played with, including film and digital models; specialty cameras including stereographic and panoramic; and both still and motion picture cameras. Some cameras will be very familiar, and hopefully others will be new to you.
Each of these alternative cameras require their own discipline, have their own strengths and weaknesses and use a variety of materials to capture and output their images. Those materials and processes will be part of the conversation. Discussions of cameras will consider their use and workflow. Sometimes the focus will shift to materials, tools, and technologies — while mentioning the cameras that these processes apply to. Some topics will explore the aesthetics of work created with alternate cameras, and the artists who have embraced these tools.
It might be easier to describe what this website will not be. New introductions of DSLRs, micro 4/3s cameras or point-and-shoots will largely go unnoticed. The site will not be devoted to any particular brand of camera. The latest full-frame camera from Canon or Nikon (while drool worthy) is not an alternative camera, it is the definition of the mainstream — the embodiment of contemporary photography. The web is already full of information and conversation about these cameras that appeal to many and perform their jobs admirably.
In contrast, this website hopes to host a conversation about the less-travelled but interesting side currents of photography (and cinematography.) To the chagrin of those who love film, altcameras now (by definition) include even common film cameras. But the rapid pace of evolution in digital photography has spawned digital cameras that also are worthy of the altcamera label. Older, little-known models and new digital cameras have challenged the orthodoxy of camera design; the Epson RD-1, the Fuji SuperCCD and X-system cameras, RED’s forays into cinema and wide-format panorama are worthy of consideration on their own and as a gateway to explore an older tradition of alt cameras.
There is a companion idea to the alternative camera — that of the alternative photographic process (or alt process.) This website does not intend to be a definitive catalog of every alt process or historical method of making pictures. By definition, alt processes will come up — it would be difficult to talk about daguerrotype or plate cameras without acknowledging the alt/historical processes they rely on. But the goal of the website is to simply share enough knowledge to inspire the use of alt cameras in a meaningful way, and then be a springboard to other more comprehensive resources for photographic processes.
I look forward to having these conversations with you. My own passions will be on full display here. I sometimes feel like I can talk about these topics endlessly (to the chagrin of friends and lovers!) My own background straddles the world of film and digital imaging. I was born recently enough to have grown up with a computer in my home. I shot 35mm film and Super 8 movies and dreamed of an easy way to bring these images into my computer. I amused myself with digital compositing of photographs from the moment such tools were available. As a young man I determined that my primary goal was to tell stories and communicate with the world. This drive led me to film school, to producing film and TV work, and eventually to photography. Along the way my curiousity about cameras and image making grew. In the short history of photography and cinematography there have been so many fascinating developments. They each leave their stamp on the image which they create. They each require something different from the photographer. They each give something different back in the results they inspire. Precious few of these unique cameras and processes have been completely orphaned; most can still be used, in some way, to create new images today. In doing so alt cameras are not simply historical curiousities; they are contemporary tools waiting to be picked up and used to create images. This is the ultimate satisfaction in exploring alt cameras.
Welcome, and I hope you hang around a while!
Your editor and primary author, David W. Scott
