I've been searching for a photo to illustrate this message. Couldn't find a real good image.
The interest in the old photographic techniques gives me a feel good. Wonderful evolution in the mind of photographers to research the history of their medium. They discover new techniques and tricks.
Contemporary photographers make Daguerreotypes, salt prints, calotypes, etc. Wonderful.
Now the photographers talk again about dark rooms, chemistry, sorts of paper and alchemy. It's all about the old techniques.
I've been there. Did the same thing in the 1980's. I also made for years gum prints, cyanotypes, platinum prints, etc. For me it was a death end street. The techniques worked very well. Great results. Sometimes very complex images make in combination prints.
None of the photographers who use this old processes talk about the image language. Every printing technique has it's own language. This image language is related to the limitations and possibilities of the technique. Most of the contemporary calotypes and Daguerreotypes you see are bad snapshots. The old technique doesn't ad anything to the image. It's a huge wast of time and efforts. Photographers should concentrate on the basics of photography: communication.
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