Photography With A Toy Camera Called A Holga

I shoot 120mm black & white film using a Holga camera. The Holga is a plastic camera of poor quality first produced in China in 1982. It was cheap in order to be the camera for the masses.

Each Holga is different and its imperfections affect the film in an individual way. Light leaks are common, although I wrap my camera in Velcro to minimize them. The film spools are often loose, creating out of focus images because the film doesn’t lie flat on the focus plane. Since the lens is plastic, the image edges are distorted and sometimes a double “ghost image” is seen near the outer edges. Light falloff from the plastic lens causes a darkening of the edges in most images.

The Holga is not a single lens reflex (SLR) camera (SLR means that when you look through the viewfinder, you are seeing through the lens). The Holga’s viewfinder is simply a hole near the top of the camera that doesn’t line up with the lens. This causes an image shift that varies depending on how close the camera is focusing. There is no built-in light meter, so good exposures depend on my knowledge of light and film.

I often shoot multiple exposures on a single 2-1/4 inch square negative. The film does not automatically advance -- it must be done manually by turning a knob on the top of the camera. The shutter is operated by a simple spring that exposes the negative as many times as I trip it. Only the lighting conditions and film speed limit how many exposures the negative will withstand, before becoming too overexposed to print. I experiment with rotating or moving the camera position or location between exposures. Mostly the experiments fail, but occasionally they result in an incredibly unique image that can be almost abstract.

I scan my negatives in a negative carrier that has been filed out to show the whole image with the film code and image numbers sometimes visible. I print my work using an Epson 7890 on photo paper or on a watercolor paper that I first painted and metal leafed. The resulting Archival Pigment Images are acid-free and rated to last at least 100 years. I make my own frames (from raw wood, paint and metal leaf) so that I can float the images without glass, but with a protective coating like a crackle paint, acrylic gel medium, polyurethane or a clear epoxy.

The overall effect of my technique is an image that utilizes but doesn't record what I saw in the viewfinder. The source of my work is in my head, not in my camera. It is my own personal version of the truth.

Biography

Michael grew up in Albany, Georgia. He later moved to Atlanta and graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta. After spending most of his life in the capital of the New South, Michael considers himself a native of Atlanta - a city that has the best of everything he loves.

As a child, Michael lived for a time in Kent in southeastern England. While living in Europe he was exposed to the rich history of art which inspired him to pick up a camera. He continues to experience this inspiration and education during his travels to the great galleries, museums and other history rich sites in Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Mexico and Canada.

When the Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996 and adversely affected the photography studio he managed, Michael decided it was time to create full time. Since then he has been juried into the best Art Shows in the country, collected by patrons internationally and is featured in corporate collections around America.

Michael is constantly experimenting with materials and pushing the boundaries of his medium. "There is nothing more exciting than being surprised by how the next piece turns out."

Awards