Leading the AltPhoto Revival



Between 1998 and 2004, The World Journal of Post-Factory Photography became the bible for alternative photography's revival. Issues 1-4 are now available as PDFs—the first time they've been offered for sale. Original print copies of issues 5-9 can be ordered at postfactoryjournal@gmail.com.

A Pratt Institute and International Center of Photography, Seigel and expert contributors didn't just explain how to make gum bichromate prints or daguerreotypes—the journal explored why these processes mattered, mixing practical guidance with philosophical heft.

Publishing from Greenwich Village, Seigel coined the term "post-factory" to capture photographers embracing labor-intensive handwork as digital reproducibility took over. Subscribers in 33 countries called it a "perfect combination of technicalia and artspeak." Christopher James dubbed her "a legend in the elucidation of alternative processes." Christina Anderson called her "the Queen of Gum."

The journal featured never-before-translated historical content, like manifestos by French Pictorialists arguing that only "intervention" makes photography "artistic"—the raison d'être of altphoto. Articles covered kallitype, palladium, cyanotype, bromoil, all manner of toning and much more, profiling forgotten masters like František Drtikol alongside Julia Margaret Cameron and modern innovators like chemist Mike Ware. Seigel's voice crackled throughout, skewering sacred cows and championing underdogs.