There are a lot of reasons I enjoy using my Holga cameras.  But on this particular day I had mine on a trip to the Washington coast and there were specific elements I was appreciating about it.  The first is that the camera is so lightweight (it is all plastic after all) and compact.  I was able to keep it in the pocket of my coat as opposed to my camera backpack, so access to it was prompt and easy.  The second was its simple nature.  This stretch of coast is one of my favorites, and it is so beautiful.  It was nice having the Holga, which required fairly little of my attention.  There are no knobs and settings to fiddle with.  It is for all intents and purposes a point and shoot camera.  The process of using it takes less than five seconds as you bring it up to your eye, frame and fire.  This meant the camera was not distracting me from the gorgeous scenery.  Something like 99% of my attention was focused on the beachscape instead of the camera in my hand.  I am sensitive to this.  There are times I can feel like I am paying too much attention to my cameras, stuck behind them while I obsess over how to make a photo and neglecting just enjoying the beauty of the world that brought me to this spot.  I would rather invest in the experience, than the photos I bring home.  Don't get me wrong.  I enjoy making photos of these places and enjoy revisiting those photos later, but I try to keep in mind that the real reason I am out there is to enjoy being out there.  The Holga enables this quite nicely but not asking much of my attention.

I think Holga cameras routinely get underrated.  Every time I take mine out I am reminded of this.  And so I wanted to share this quartet of images made with my Holga 120N and Lomography Color 100 film.

Peter brought his Holga to work with him yesterday. Many years ago, he decked it out with a Wall Drug sticker, making it a uniquely Peter camera.⁠⠀
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Peter is a man of many cameras and he uses them in frequent rotation. He has a specific approach to shooting with his Holga, which mirrors the best piece of Holga advice he offers - "bulb flash." Simple as that. Fit the Holga with a flash, set it to Bulb mode, take it to a show or karaoke night at the bar, and let it rip.⁠⠀

We're not only sharing this portrait of Peter and his Holga, but some of his Holga work as well. You can follow Peter's more recent photography on his Instagram feed @thepetor. Meanwhile, feel free to stop in and pick up a Holga of your own. We think everyone should own one of these cameras at some point in their photographic lives. While you're in the shop, ask us about our "flash drawer." We have some generic and cheap flashes that would be perfect atop your Holga.

In preparation for Halloween, we sort of expect some things to rise from the dead.  Well, in 2019, we got the reanimated Holga cameras back in stock. They are, more or less, the same as you remember them, though now they are only available in the 120N model.  They do seem to have a bit more of a pronounced sweet spot in the middle of the image and a bit extra blur around the edges, but otherwise they are that same, old, easy-to-love (and use) Holga camera.  We have been having a lot of fun with ours of late, carrying it around in our coat pockets and making a lot colorful multiple-exposure autumn photos.

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We love shooting Holgas - they're easy to use, fun, and they make great photos from 120 film.  This particular Holga has a little something special added on: a Polaroid back!  The back takes Fuji FP-100C peel-apart film, which is unfortunately discontinued, but still an interesting way to hack the plastic magic that is the Holga.  They've all got quirks , making every frame a bit of an exploration.

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Yes, many Holgas may have been discontinued but it is hard to keep a good plastic camera down.  They were all good, in their way:  flashless, flash, colored flash, pinhole, panoramic pinhole, twin lens, instant film backed, glow in the dark, glass-lensed, etc.

If we had our way, every film photographer would own one of these. There is much to learn from their simple approach to photography. 

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This red HolgaGlo is ready to light you through all your coolest vintage fashion shows. 

The HolgaGlo was a short-lived variant on the standard Holga 120N.  Not only did they come in extravagant colors vivid red, yellow and orange, but they also glowed in the dark.  We were never quite sure how we felt about a camera that was prone to leaking light actually producing its own light, but we did like the bright colors they came in.

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If you look hard enough, you will find a rare 'Commando' Holga camouflaged amongst these film boxes.  The Commando was released as a part of the Holgawood Collection, a line of ten, colorful Holga cameras inspired by the Hollywood greats.  Some of the other cameras in this collection were a matte yellow camera named "Yellow Brick Road," a matte pink one known as "Pretty in Pink," and a matte purple called "The Camera Formerly Known As Holga."

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Here is an image made by former staff member, Jim Hair, who spends many hours downtown talking with individuals he finds there.  He wanted to make a portrait of this fellow and, when the man asked him about his cameras, Jim handed him his Holga.  The fellow ended up snapping a photo of Jim just as Jim was snapping a photo of him.

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News from the field: our own Sarah Graves is celebrating World Toy Camera Day 2014 on the road in the heart of Texas.

In 2015 we learned, from credible word on the street, that Holga production had stopped, the Tokina factory had closed, the machinery scrapped and that Holga was history.  The silver lining we could find in the tragedy was that you really only ever have to buy one Holga.  Unless you take it apart for some modification or another, it will last you your natural and photographic life.  So yes, while it was disheartening to learn that this quirky, oft-overlooked, and surprisingly influential camera was reaching the end of its production life, that certainly didn't mean that the Holga was fated to disappear. 

The happiest plot twist to this story, in 2017 the Holga body molds were resurrected and put back into production!  We love our Holgas and encourage every photographer to get their hands on one of these plastic fantastics. 

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...All you have to decide is whether you are going to choose the red pill or the blue pill?

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Happy Halloween to all the photographically inclined goblins and ghouls out there!  We hope your evening is remembered for enjoyable boos, delicious sweets, and spooky photos.

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The color for this Holga could have been called "Brrr Blue."  There is virtually nothing for rain or ice or freezing temperatures to foul in these cameras.  Get a bit of spray or rain on your lens?  Don't worry, its a plastic lens anyway!  This camera has saved the lives of so many of other cameras over the winters, simply by taking their place and allowing them to stay safely and dryly tucked away.

If you are lucky enough to own a HolgaGlo version, like this one, losing the camera is much less of a problem as well.  Just wait for it to get dark and look for the glowing object.

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In the run up to our Staff Show opening on July 15th of 2017, we  featured portraits of our various staff, along with the tools of their trade.  You won't find Claudia's photography online much at all these days.  She largely hung up her cameras when she retired from a 25 year career as a photojournalist at The Oregonian in 2008 (ask her for stories, she has tons of them).  She planned to step away from the cameras and pursue her love of polo, but she found it harder than she had anticipated to leave photography completely aside.  Now she is a polo instructor and makes many images of the horses and sport she loves so much.  She also finds time to help us out in our darkroom, keeping up on the silver gelatin print orders.⠀

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