198/365: Holga and Diana.

Well folks, I've been themeless, or nearly so, for a bit now. The next month, starting tomorrow, will be a month of a tool-based theme, the tool(s) being the above cameras, the Holga and Diana, King and Queen of Plastic Photography. Plastic body, plastic lens, gaffer's tape all holding parts together; you've never had so much fun for $30. These cameras have a history all their own, and if you find them intriguing, there's lots of content online that can tell you all about it. If you aren't familiar with them, you may find the imagery familiar: nowadays everyone has the toy camera simulators on their iPhones, "Hipstamatic" being one I remember by name, but there are countless others, all designed to simulate the esoteric imagery that these quirky cameras are known for. Some of them do a pretty good job too, I mean, you don't have to ENHANCE the image so much as DEGRADE it a bit, add a Polaroid or film rebate border, heavy edge blur and vignette, garish colors and contrast, and whammo. Holga. Well, that's all good, and if I had an iPhone, you know I'd be using it. But this here is the real deal, FILM, baby, MEDIUM FORMAT film, and it comes with a whole set of quirks that instant digital technology does not: namely, lots of wasted film. (Just kidding. Sort of.)

These cameras have enjoyed mulitple revivals over their history, and for now, they are still popular enough to be marketed and sold directly to the hipsters via Urban Outfitters and the Lomographic Society, or whatever it's called. These modern packages are pretty sweet, they come with various art books and accessories like fisheye lens attachments, but seriously, $75 for a plastic camera? Find the cheaper, less flashy Holga boxes at good camera stores, or online (even Amazon), save cash on the camera, and then spend the rest on that expensive medium format film.

All the images coming for the next month are scanned pieces of film, processed in the 'digital darkroom', Photoshop. For a lot of us, nothing is fully analog any more, though I could develop the film and print the black and whites if I REALLY wanted to. Which I don't.

I've preposted all the shots, and they'll be self-published daily, as I will be off the internet and grid for the next month. I'll get to any comments or emails when I return. Since I won't be posting links to these via Twitter or Facebook, if any of you feel like sharing the shots you like with your Followers/Friends, I would be internally grateful and in your debt. Thanks to all of you, see you in a month!

-llg