Holga: In Pursuit of Imperfection

The Holga is my “poor man’s” Hasselblad. Both cameras utilize 120 film and produce a square 6x6cm image—framing the world within a tidy little box.

Beyond format, the cameras share little else. Plastic lens vs. the iconic NASA-grade Zeiss; light leaks vs. air-tight engineering; …a burger and fries vs. a Parisian getaway.

Its shortcomings, for me, are also its virtues. Its simplicity is freeing. Having only two apertures (sunny and cloudy) and one focal length, I don’t have to think about other possibilities. An adorable plastic…toy, really, no one seems to care if you practically stick it in their face! Ding it? Full-blown break it? What’s a burger and fries between friends?

The Holga creates “mistakes”—random light leaks through the cheap plastic body, dark vignetting at the edges—that become integral to the image; like a built-in filter adding dreamy charm. Think of a warm sounding but crackling old LP.

The directness, unpredictability, and utter lack of preciousness tend to put me in the moment with my subjects and never fail to reinvigorate my relationship with photography. Such was the case when photographing the series “Shoreline”.

Perhaps one day I’ll own a classic analog medium-format Hasselblad 500CM; but I’ll always have a few trusty Holga 120Ns around, ready for action.

Holga: In Pursuit of Imperfection

Missing: The Family Album

Stripped: “Layerama”