Robert Schaefer, Jr.

In reaction, some photographic artists shun technology of any kind, instead resurrecting tin type, daguerreotype, and other 19th-century "alternative processes" that render one-of-a-kind images, impossible to predictably reproduce. Robert Schaefer, Jr. takes the best of both worlds. For him computers and software help photographers expose their work to ever wider audiences, reduce exposure to toxic darkroom chemicals, and make it easier to stay connected with mentors and peers. But they are never the starting point for Schaefer's art. That distinction belongs to his vision and to the images themselves, which he composes in a viewfinder and brings to life in a darkroom.