With the proliferation of automatic cameras and fast print labs, it is interesting to see a small band of photographic artists returning to the roots of the artform. Peter Mackay previewed the work of one such person, Los Angeles photographer Al De Vito, who is about to mount an exhibition of his "classic tradition" photographs in Brisbane.

Time and patience are two things that photographer Al De Vito needs a lot of in his chosen profession.

Whilst finding photographers who take long periods to arrange their shots is not unusual, finding a photographer whose process means that a final print may not be seen for months after the original image was captured could be verging on the bizarre.

But for Al De Vito and the growing list of followers of "classic tradition" photography in the US and Australia, the time and patience invested into each print is well worthwhile.

De Vito, who will be in Australia in July and August exclusively for an exhibition at Brisbane's Imagery Gallery entitled Impressions of Light, draws on 140 years of photographic tradition to produce his works. His photography relies on classic non-silver photographic techniques which were pioneered in the 1850s.

His main tool of trade, a 1910 vintage cherrywood Kodak Century bellow camera negative plates, measuring 20 cm. by 25 cm.

"It's the type of camera you see in old movies where the photographer puts his head into a black cloak at the back of the camera and then asks people to stand still while the film is exposed."

And stand still they do.

"Exposure can take anything up to two minutes in normal daylight conditions," he said.

Perhaps this is why he prefers old buildings and inanimate objects - although he does do nude studies.

While the exposure itself can take several minutes (as distinct from finding a subject and spending time waiting for the "right" lighting conditions), that is a just the start of what can be a lengthy process.

De Vito's technique involves painting special emulsions on long-lasting archival paper, then contact printing in bright sunlight. Each print is the same size as the negative, so no quality is lost through an enlargement process.

The printing itself can take the best part of a day, or the cumulative effect of several days of California (or Queensland) sunlight. It is not unusual, according to De Vito, to visit his home in the leafy suburbs of Fullerton, a city near Los Angeles, and find several photographs "printing" in various positions around his yard. The slightest sign of rain or cloud sends De Vito rushing outside to contemplate how the change in weather patterns will affect his work.

"Different weather patterns, seasons - even the time of day - contribute to the unique effect of each print," he said. "Although, if it rains, I have to be quick to bring them in before they're damaged."

But for De Vito, who is currently head of Photography at Fullerton College, the real test of patience comes with combining emulsions.

He uses four different types of emulsion - gum bichromate, platinum, cyanotype, and Van Dyke - which give the prints an individuality and richness which is then further enhanced by combining certain emulsions.

"Through years of experimenting, I've been able to determine which of the processes are compatible," he said.

"By combining two or even three of the techniques, I can get results which aren't possible with just one."

Because of the hand-painted and sometimes combined emulsions, each print has a uniqueness not found in the mass-produced photographic prints of other photographic artists.

"When I want a particular effect, it can take several months - sometimes up to a year - to coat the paper with each emulsion."

Luckily for the Brisbane photographers who will be taking part in his workshop, good results are still possible over one weekend.

The 30 or so works on display at Imagery represent a 10 year span of De Vito's photography.

Each is a mixture of the crisp reality of a photograph with the textured, almost three dimensional properties of a painting. Each has a dual tactile quality: of both the image and the medium.

Where many photographers are limited to capturing the vision of texture, De Vito, through the use of extravagant brush strokes and combinations of emulsion effects on archival and rag paper, is able to compound the highlights and shadows of his subject by giving it surface texture to complement the image's own qualities.

It is paradoxical that while many of his images could quite easily be as old as the processes themselves, the sometimes swirly, sometimes unobtrusive brushwork can give a modern, almost impressionistic feeling.

De Vito's works, including many images from his frequent visits to Queensland, can be seen at Imagery Gallery in South Brisbane from July 31 to August 14.