2 Photo Exhibitions: 5th Annual Alternative Processes Competition / Laurent Lafolie's Alma

This year's Alternative Processes Competition presents the winning images of 44 photographers from across the United States. The hundreds of images that were submitted for this competition represent a wide range of alternative methods including beeswax paper negative, cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, platinum/palladium, gum dichromate, gold toned salt print, tintype, and ziatype. The juror, Robert A. Schaefer Jr., after much deliberation, awarded first, second, and third prizes as well as three honorable mentions.

The work of French photographer Laurent Lafolie's show consists of close-up pictures of faces. This series uses palladium printing, a difficult 19th century process that yields photographs of extraordinary subtle tonal gradations unavailable through most other techniques. Lafolie's images are made with an 8x10 inch large format camera and then contact printed for a result that is both exceptionally beautiful and thoroughly revealing of the personalities of these individuals.

Price: $free