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Winter and I just do not get along well. In this respect I decided to shoot slow film within my Holga when I was in New York City to lose the shadows and offer a look of grunge when shooting on the street. The day was cold, my hands were freezing, and the resulting images reflected my feelings.
After looking at Joe Wigfall’s image, The Look, I knew that I needed to get this particular image processed. Joe’s work has been an inspiration to me with the work I have recently been doing on the street.
I saw this woman sitting somewhere near 42nd and Broadway, and she looked cold and unhappy. Framed next to the poster of an advertisement for the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, I thought back to a time in her childhood when she must have played make believe, and at one point played the part of a princess. It is unfortunate that as some people get older, they lose the spirit of play and make believe, as reality rules their life. I have no idea why she turned and looked at me just as I was about to take the picture, perhaps she was hoping that her had prince had come to take her away.
Call this “fun with the Holga.”
Plastic cameras can offer fun and interesting results, and this is certainly one of them. When I was in San Francisco I took a picture of the neighboring buildings beside the hotel I was staying in. The quality of the lens is such that the buildings bow inward, which is most dramatic from the outer portion of the scene. This actually helps draw the viewer’s eyes into the center of the frame. The center is reasonably sharp and unlike many Holga cameras, this one does not display the light leaks that oftentimes characterize the images.
Of course, that also could be due to the duct tape that has been added to the camera. <g>
I like images where two ideas are opposite but somehow connected. This particular image was taken in Annapolis, MD. A rather exclusive and well-known restaurant, Harry Browne’s, exists on the circle that surrounds the Capitol building. Of course, not everyone has the money to eat there, and the right side of the image shows this.
This picture was taken using a plastic disposable camera. After shooting all of the frames I would remove the film and develop it, refilling it with another roll of black and white film. The advantage of using a disposable plastic camera was that I could not only take it everywhere, but also I realized that if something happened to it, I could simply load up another disposable camera. This disposable camera has been replaced with a tiny digital camera which I take everywhere.
I remember many years ago listening to a coworker tell me that she had camped out in the desert. She spent a lot of time looking at the stars and wished that she knew how to take pictures of the star trails. I could have explained that to her. The problem was that she had purchased a camera that was the latest and greatest, and did everything for her – except give her knowledge.
Perhaps the reason I’ve enjoyed the low tech for so long is that it is limiting, and requires one to build a set of knowledge before being able to squeeze as much out as possible. One of these low tech devices is my trusty Holga camera, with two shutter speeds and three aperture possibilities. Such limitations forces one to work with what they’ve got and that’s what I did in this picture.
I had a roll of Konica Infrared film, which I normally shoot at EI 8 when metered through a #25 (red) filter. Such a slow film speed means that just about the only way to use it within the Holga is to make multiple exposures (I could use the Bulb setting) , and in this image of the old Annapolis Market House (now, unfortunately, refurbished) I waited for people to cross the street before taking the multiple exposures.
Toy cameras are fun. The lack of quality can sometimes make for an interesting image if the subject is appropriate. I like taking pictures of buildings that are on their last legs, and this image was made in the very small town of Galesville, MD, population in the hundreds.
In this town there was (and probably still is) a small gallery where I showed my work occasionally. At the time I lived in Annapolis, which was about half an hour away, and having moved 45 minutes in the other direction, I have not visited Galesville in years. The old town offers numerous photographic possibilities, so I may need to return some day.
This store has seen its better days, and the picture was taken with my trusty Holga. I love the vignette around the edges as well as the difficulty the image has in those areas. I have recently purchased a pinhole version of the Holga and have Velvia film to push through it, so those images will be posted at some point in the future.
