Most of the early-19th-century photographers were scientists, in fact, who found the right combination of chemicals to affix an image to a piece of paper. Once those chemicals were identified and accessible, then the next generation of photographers pushed the practice into the realm of art with their creativity. Now that digital is the modern option for citizens and journalists alike, chemical processes have re-emerged in the art world. Daguerreotypes, wet collodion and photograms appear in the work of famous artists such as Chuck Close, Sally Mann and Adam Fuss.
“Just as some people say that photography freed up the painters to be impressionistic,” Estabrook said, “so has digital allowed photographers to be free to experiment.”
Link to article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/03/28/artistry-and-chemistry-a-new-way-to-look-at-the-old-practices-of-photography/