Fri 1/27 @ 5-9PM
With phone cameras that can take virtually perfect photos in many situations — crisp, defined and well-lit — it seems anomalous to use cheap plastic cameras such as the Diana that offer the user little to no control over settings and take low-quality photos. Yet it seems to be an exercise pursued by many programs as an introduction to photography for reasons that escape me, but may not escape you.
The Holga, a Chinese-made camera which came out in the 80s, is even more primitive than the Diana, with results just as unpredictable: light leaks, soft focus, vignetting. So you never know what you’ll end up with.
Recently, the Cleveland Print Room held a four-session workshop called Intro to the Holga Film Camera, led by Cara Gaetano, part of its new Experimental Camera Series.
Now Gaetano and the five class participants — Helen Harry, Tom Hart, Christianna Kreiss, Darla Lundi, and Neil Safran — will be displaying the results of their experiments at the CPR in a short-run show called Perfectly Imperfect: The Holga Show. It will feature prints created in a variety of wars, including digital scans, darkroom printing on RC paper and hand-painted platinum palladium prints.
It opens with a reception on Friday January 27 @ 5-9pm and will be on view through Saturday February 4.