Holga

I just bought a Holga 120CFN camera. Now that digital photography is the industry standard, photos captured on film are increasingly nostalgic. To me, the Holga's appeal is rebellion against the industry. It's a return to simplicity, when the world didn't move quite so fast and our lives weren't dictated by 1's and 0's. This is the essence of a photographic movement called lomography. Lomography is a rejection of traditional rules of photography. It emphasizes capturing life in the moment and a photographic freedom unhindered by common notions of aesthetics. Lomography is perfect for someone just learning to work a camera (that's me), because it embraces beauty found in spontaneity and trial and error. Here are the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography as set out by the Lomographic Society (http://www.lomography.com/):

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.

2. Use it any time - day and night.

3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.

4. Try the shot from the hip.

5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible.

6. Don't think.

7. Be fast.

8. You don't have to know beforehand what you captured on film.

9. Afterwards either.

10. Don't worry about any rules.

You could say that lomography is a rediscovery of the joy of photography. It's finding fulfillment in the experience of taking pictures by freeing yourself from the outcome/idea of the perfect shot. Below are some pictures taken on a Holga. We'll see if mine turn out as well.

- Joel