At a time when digital technologies offer increasingly sophisticated options for producing, storing, and disseminating images, a number of artists have turned their attention to exploring the essence of photography, distilling it to its basic components of light-sensitive emulsions and chemical development. These artists may use hand-coated or expired papers, archival negatives, or custom-built cameras, or they may eschew the use of a camera or film altogether. All revel in materials and process, employing darkroom techniques that shift our understanding of photography away from a medium that merely records the world.