The Cult of Holga

[gr82bart]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...e-sixties-camera-makes-a-comeback-797582.html

Interesting read.

Regards, Art.

 

[IloveTLRs]

Very interesting. Makes me want to take mine out tomorrow

I suppose Holgas popularity is good news as it means a steady supply of 120 film for at least a while. I wonder how long the Holga fascination will last?

 

[brofkand]

How long has the Holga fascination been going on?

 

[Vaughn]

How long has the Holga fascination been going on?

I don't know...ask Diana.

Vaughn

 

[Akki14]

Bah that article is months old, can't enter the competition. Damn. I took my holga out recently. I need to get some prints done from it.

 

[ann]

i don't know the exact time frame, but i think that camera has been around for at least 20 years, maybe more. time flies by so quickly it is easy to lose track.

 

[mabman]

I wonder how long the Holga fascination will last?

I don't know, but my favourite local camera shop (Photo Central in Winnipeg) just jumped on the bandwagon - they're stocking Holgas and (new) Diana+ models.

When I was last there they now have a sign as you walk up the stairs that says "ARE YOU LOMO?" I *really* want to write "NO!" beside it, but so far I've refrained

 

[Schlapp]

Lomo or Lo-no - either way if people are using film, what's the issue?

 

[mabman]

Don't get me wrong, the more people using film the merrier. Frankly, I have a number of issues with the whole "Lomographic Society" and their marketing scheme. Their campaign seems to be more about syle over substance, not to mention driving up the prices of what are supposed to be "cheap" cameras.

I do own a Holga (not bought from the Lomographic Society), and have seen some interesting work with them, but I consider this whole "Lomo" thing to be an artificial marketing campaign.

My biggest beef: why do they have to be "lomographers" and what they take "lomography"? Why can't they just be "photographers" practicing "photography"? I think the umbrella of photography is quite broad, and anything else is just marketing fluff.

It remains to be seen if this will have a positive impact on photography overall - eg, do photographers who get into "lomo" then also get into other "standard" film cameras?

I don't have a problem with a company trying to make money either, but all of this "lomo, lomo, lomo" talk and in some circles the resulting bandwagon jumping for the sake of image drives me nuts.

Your opinion may differ, of course

 

[mtbbrian]

My fascination with Holgas has lasted 14 years and counting....
Brian
Red Holga Man on flickr

 

[gandolfi]

Well - I SO liked an add for HOLGA I saw some time ago.

it said:

HOLGA - son of DIANA!

and that's what he is to me..

the diana is very different than the HOLGA.

And to me it has a certain quality, that doesn't come with HOLGA - the HOLGA "lenses" are simply "better"...

don't get me wrong: I have seen utterly beautiful pictures taken with the HOLGA.

the new Diana+ has nothing to do with the original.. it's a HOLGA in disguise. (I have one, and it works well, but the reaults are not like the Diana images)

to my knowlegde the Diana started in 1958 (my age...)
so maybe a little older than the HOLGA (has to be in order to be a "mother"?)

the HOLGA/Diana is just a tool. as for all the other cameras out there, one has to learn to use it.

(it is still easy to play wrongly on a Steinway piano....)

 

[gr82bart]

it is still easy to play wrongly on a Steinway piano....

Or to jam a Hasselblad!

Regards, Art.

 

[gandolfi]

Or to jam a Hasselblad!

Regards, Art.

(I had this coming..)