I’ve been excited to show you these for some time and now, I finally get to!

The images below are photographs taken with a Holga camera.

The Holga is a film camera. Medium format, which is larger than the 35mm film cameras most people remember. And it’s also listed under “toy camera” anywhere you look to buy it.

Why?

Because it sucks, that’s why. You laugh, but it’s true.

It sucks.

A lot.

It’s manufactured in China with exactly zero quality control, so if you and a friend each bought your own, you’d still end up with two completely different cameras, it’s made entirely of plastic (yes, even the lens) and it’s incredibly primitive in the control it offers.

Oh and don’t lick it either, there’s the slight possibility you might get lead poisoning. Remember; it was made in China! On the other hand, what the hell are you doing licking cameras?!

Anyway, but that’s also why boatloads of photographers love it so much. It’s primitive and unpredictable.

I can’t speak for other photographers, but my experience with the Holga has been liberating. That’s what I love about mine. The freedom. I go into any new shoot with two things on my mind.

1. Film is expensive and I only have 12 shots per roll. I better get this right.
2. This camera sucks. It doesn’t matter what I do, it’ll come out interesting. Still though… Get it right…

Whenever I get started on a shoot with my current digital camera, I have about 1,200 images worth of space. With a Holga, I have almost exactly ONE HUNDRED TIMES fewer shots at my disposal.

So I friggin’ pay attention.

So yes, it focuses me like digital cameras can’t. To me, that is liberating, because instead of focusing my energy on telling similar images apart, I get to pay closer attention to what I want to do NOW, with the camera in hand. But there’s the added bonus of not knowing what you’re gonna get, especially with a Holga, until you get your roll back from the lab.

Here’s why.

With professional cameras, your view is bounced around through a series of mirrors so you can see exactly what your lens is seeing. You see how far you’re zoomed in or out, what your focus looks like, there’s even an indicator to tell you what your exposure is gonna look like before you take the shot.

With a Holga, forget about mirrors; you look through a hole. You don’t have a clue what your lens is seeing. You have to literally guess what your focus is gonna be like based on some stupidly vague icons at the front of the lens. And you have two aperture settings. Sunny and cloudy.

And that’s it. Go take a picture.

And when you do go take a roll full of pictures and get them developed, you find that your Holga did a number of things you didn’t know it was doing. It leaked light onto the film in this frame but not on that one because the construction of the casing sucks so much, it missed focus because you can’t tell exactly where your focus is anyway and even where focus magically falls in your lap, the camera’s construction may be such that the bottom right corner of your images are out of focus regardless. I say “may be” because remember, no two Holgas are alike. I just know it does that on mine, with some frames where the issue is more pronounced than others. Oh and of course the thing Holgas are most famous for: vignetting. The corners of your images are darkened, not by choice like we do now digitally, but because that’s how your Holga came out of the factory.

The sheer unpredictability of the thing makes the results all the more exhilarating.

So I hope you enjoy my little collection so far. These have been shot between around November when I got it and during my trip to Europe, which by the way means that I had three cameras to juggle; the iPhone, the Canon and the Holga. And I had a 4-year-old. And it was cold. And the French have nukes.

What?! It’s more exciting when I put it like that!