Some Avoid the Holga, Others Embrace It:
Who buys a Holga expecting results like a Hasselblad? If they do, they will be disappointed. Control over a camera isn’t always a good thing. Think about how many cameras are sold for hundreds and hundreds of dollars a piece – and the majority of the photos are garbage. Technically these “state of the art” cameras can produce perfectly exposed, perfectly in focus pictures. That doesn’t mean they are good photos, though. I think there is too much emphasis on camera gear by photographers. Learn the basics of photography and you can produce a great photo with anything from a Hasselblad to a pinhole camera. I like the Holga because it introduces an element of risk into my photography that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. I happen to like not knowing what I am going to get because when I plan a photo out meticulously and obsess about getting the exposure right, I rarely am impressed with the results – no matter how technically perfect the image may be.
Shouldn’t be hard to figure out where I fit in on the avoiding/embracing scale.
Sure, you can plan a shot and know what you’re going to get, to an increasingly reliable standard. But the element of chance can keep the fun in photography. Light leaks, vignetting, unreliable focus, these are artifacts of imperfection, as is everything else we do. Embrace that, the reality of our situation, and realize that your creations are no more perfect than you are but just as uniquely interesting.