Why Lo-Fi in the Digital Age?
This is a question I've been asking myself for a while
now. I own a number of film (35mm & Medium format) and
digital cameras, but time and time again I reach for one of
my holgas, as my camera of choice. However I still can't
find an answer.
For me it starts with loading the camera. The choice is
vast - film brand, colour, black and white, slide,
negative, 100iso, 400iso, 120N, 120GFN. At the moment I'm
experimenting with various combinations to see the different
results, nothing is predictable when it comes to lo-fi.
Holgas all have different qualities as well, some are
sharper than others, some leak and like the one I used in
Italy this summer, some melt! It's because of this that I
keep adding new cameras to the collection.
Not only do I try different kind of films in them, I also
vary the light conditions that I shoot in, recently I've
been using bulb a lot (Hand held and on the tripod) and
varying the exposure time. The approach for me when using
the bulb is still rather lo-fi, I guess. I've found using
the bulb can get some great movement in the picture.
Much has been written about the £20 plastic camera over
the years, how it produces dreamy soft focused pictures to
how it makes a picture that was taken yesterday a vintage
feel. However maybe the answer to my question is, a
combination of all these factors.
During writing this piece I've ask the same question to
various photographers, their answer seem to be more concise than mine, "lo-fi is the new digital" "It takes meback to the way my father used a camera" "
Its art" "In a world of over saturated HDR pictures its my calm moments, its reality."
The sales of holgas are on the increase judging by some of
the threads on flickr, so if you've not ventured into the
world of lo-fi give it ago.
This has been a personal view of my love of holgas, in my
next piece I'll look at the different lo-fi - toy cameras
that people are shooting with. In the mean time if you are a
Diana (original or +) convert I would like to hear from you.
Tim Mitchard (THIAPS Editor Lo-Fi)
photo: By Tim Mitchard
Holga 120N 1 second on Bulb. HP5
