I’ve been having lots of fun with the Holga and went out today with this 6×6 camera loaded with 35mm film.
Fire Station
This firestation image scanned to about 16 inches long. It occupies nearly 4 35mm neg frames.
I loaded the Holga with an old roll of Fomapan 400 35mm. It is kind of tricky, not least because you have to count the clicks when winding the film (43 to load, 34 to wind on, decrementing as the takeup spool gets larger). I bolloxed it up of course but I think I wedged the 35mm cassette in too tight (there is a lot of wedging, shimming, elastic bands and foam plastic just to get the 35mm film travelling correctly through the 6×6 gate).
Up and down steps again
I find the ‘mistakes’ interesting. I have a rough idea of how I want the finished photo to look but there is a lot of guesswork involved. Vision is needed (natch…) plus the abandoning of traditional composition. Fingers need to be crossed too
The Point, Point Hill
Including the sprocket-holes is a bit of a cliche, but hey, I can, so I do! In true Holga fashion I needed to use copious amounts of sellotape on the 6×6 negative carrier so introduced yet another variable since the scanner lens focus is fixed at a certain height and it is difficult to stop the too narrow negs bowing.
Some of the results are eerie as hell. Look at the figure on the left in the photo below. I don’t even remember it and he/she looks naked.
Avenue, Greenwich Park
Some interesting effects with the animals too
Gizmo
The cat in the photo below is possibly the toughest cat in Deptford. She doesn’t give an inch to the dogs, in fact she seems to be saying ‘bring it on…’ Gizmo has to walk round her now that he knows how sharp her claws are (they ‘met’ recently hehe)
Tough cat
Here is my holgarised bastard take on Paul Strand’s White Fence, Port Kent, New York 1916
White Fence, Maidstone Hill, Greenwich 2009
The Fomapan 400 negs were developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 11 minutes, 30 secs initial agitation, 2 inversions every 30 seconds. Quality is actually a fairly secondary consideration here and I probably wouldn’t normally use Rodinal with Fomapan 400. However, I was aiming for Daido Moriyama like grain and I think I got it. This was the last roll of Fomapan 400 too. I won’t lament it.
I’ve really enjoyed this little Holga project. So much so that I’m going to explore medium format a bit more. I’m now waiting for a 40 year old Yashicamat 6×6 so I can get my teeth into into it, so stay tuned.
