what is the Academy?
The Alternative Processes Academy is a self-paced online course designed to teach you 12 alternative photography techniques.
Through detailed, visually rich, step-by-step tutorials, you'll explore printing on a variety of surfaces and materials, expanding your creative possibilities.
What you will learn
inside the Alternative Processes Academy
Darkroom Printing from Scratch
Start with the fundamentals and progress to making your first darkroom print. Then, take your skills further by learning to print on nine different surfaces using liquid emulsion.
Cameraless Photography Techniques
Master experimental techniques like photograms, chemigrams, watergrams, lumen prints, cyanolumens, and wet cyanotypes through clear, step-by-step guidance.
Sustainable Printing & Development
Explore eco-friendly alternatives like Chlorophyll printing, Anthotypes, Caffenol, Salt Fixer, and a special guest lecture on Plant-Based Developers by Melanie King.
Digital Negatives & Positives
Learn how to create digital negatives and positives and apply them across various processes, including Cyanotype on nine different surfaces.
Bioplastic for Photography
Discover how to create bioplastics using agar agar or gelatin, with a guest lecture by Martha Gray on sustainable, experimental materials.
Exclusive Guest Lectures
We invite renowned experts in alternative photography to share their insights, techniques, and innovations.
Course Structure
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Video Lessons – Hands-on, visually rich tutorials you can follow at your own pace. (This course focuses on practice, not history.)
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Downloadable Resources – Additional learning materials to support your progress.
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Community Calls & Guest Lectures – Monthly live sessions with Chiara and fellow students, plus free expert-led workshops.
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Private Discord Server – Ask questions, share progress, and get direct support from Chiara and the AP team with ongoing prompts and guidance.
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❝ Already in love with the analogue process and the darkroom, I was very interested in experimental processes, especially those involving organic materials, but I couldn’t find enough good information about them. The APA Academy brings together many of these processes and guides you synthetically and usefully through them.❞
❝Working my way through the Alternative Processes Academy has been pure joy. The modules are split into clear and easy to follow videos with pdf’s to support each one. There are tips and ideas on how to organise your materials and great advice on darkroom practice including the right mindset. It’s amazing value as there are not only new modules added regularly but an AP community on discord where we share our wins, talk about our challenges and get amazing feedback, plus there are community calls where we get more in-depth feedback. This community is filled with artists and photographers on the same journey and it’s very inspiring. ❞
❝I was excited to sign up for the APA this year, always hungry to experiment with new materials. I was looking for inspiration and discovered the @alternativeprocesses Instagram account, making enrolling in the APA a no-brainer. The course is self-paced, so there's no stress if you can't participate for a while. The Discord online chat provides a good sharing community. I've started exploring Lumen printing and cyanotype, and with Chiara adding modules continually, it's a never-ending learning experience - great value for money❞
