Holga Week | Katie Mollon

Here at Film Shooters Collective, we wanted to celebrate Holga Week by having our viewers share some of their all-time favorite Holga images. We wanted to include first-time Holga shooters, so we waited for everyone to have a chance to get a roll (or several) processed.

My name has become synonymous with Holga, despite owning a variety of film cameras. There's something so versatile about this seemingly limited plastic device that has kept me coming back for over a decade. If the dreamy focus and vignetting wasn't enough of an effect, there are endless other fun tricks you can do with a Holga. From bulb-mode long exposures to exposure stacking to overlapping frames or exposing the sprockets on 35mm film, the creative options are plentiful. And don't forget: there will probably be light leaks involved!

The following set of images transitions between depictions of peace and solitude to feelings of excitement and chaos. The image makers selected films, subjects, and techniques that helped portray these themes. If anyone thought the Holga camera was a simple, one-trick pony: the contrasts in these images will convince them otherwise.


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Film photographer Katie Mollon is based in Michigan. See more of her work & connect with her on Instagram.

Amy Jasek

Photography is a family tradition. I was raised in the darkroom, and on the fine art work of photographers like Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, and Ansel Adams. My father took me photographing with him regularly and taught me how to look at light. He gave me my first camera (an Olympus RC); I made my first black and white print (standing on a stool!) at the age of 7. There are some gaps in the timeline of my photographic journey, enforced upon it by life in general, but film and cameras are one of the few things that have remained constant every step of the way. For me, photography is all about moments and truth. I like to work in black and white so that I can highlight those two things. The truth, form, and simplicity of the moment is presented; I feel that removing the color from the scene brings these things out. I believe street photography is a little window into the heart and soul of a place, a time, and the people in it. These days I tend more toward street portraits and interaction with my subjects, but my drive for capturing the candid moment remains the same.