Holga: The World Through a Plastic Lens (Lomography)

I just love the tone of this book. From the beginning it's lighthearted, creative, and fun. It encourages you to experiment. It tempts you to explore. It tantalizes you with cool images and then challenges you to try to find your own.Yes, a Holga is plastic. It's cheap! It's old-school film. And it's so much fun. The book presents a plethora of images to poke your spirit and get you to think, "What could I do with this thing?"There's a whole section on the joy of light leaks, which is a standard aspect of Holgas. They're not necessarily flaws - they can be fun experiments.Where other books in this genre often offer fun images but don't tell you how to make them, Holga is much more helpful. If you want to make 35mm film exposures, you get both the examples and the details of how to pull it off yourself. For example, put a 35mm roll of film in upside down so the back side of the film is exposed. You can now create wine-colored photos!If I have a complaint, it's that a lot of the "fun facts" about the Holga seems to be fairly snide comments about females. About the Holga being:"she never complains when we're on the road to who knows where in this amazing world.""cheap date""it never complains""she is the boss and you cannot expect anything from her. but when she is in a good mood, she gives you her pure beauty, it's up to her!""like every good partner, she's low maintenance""Using a Holga is very much like making love to a beautiful woman - you've got to handle her gently, talk to her sweetly, and use plenty of duct tape."I'm a woman. It feels fairly icky that apparently guy after guy feels this way about women and is praising their plastic camera as an alternative. It makes me hesitant to find a Holga community, if this is the kind of person who is the main participant. If it was just one or two out of a sea of comments it would be one thing, but as indicated, it's a more than that. Which also makes me hesitant to recommend this for kids.And while half of the book is about fun Holga shooters, in most cases the pages are dedicated to long biographies with only a few photos. I'd much rather have short biographies - after all, we can always Google for full details - and lots of images for inspiration.So a fun book, but not a perfect one.

This book on the world of Holga photography will be a bit stark for those of you who have grown up in the world of the digital camera. Holgas are cheap Chinese knock-offs of a Russian knock-off of an American cheap plastic camera. And while the American camera has gone the way of the dust-bunny, the Chinese are making the Holga 120 roll film camera like the world will end if they ever close production down. The Holga is an inexpensive plastic camera that doesn't concern itself with Aperture settings, focus settings, and shutter speeds. Lift the camera to the eye and press the button. Not much else to this camera. So why is it a cult favorite of analog photographers? because you can do things with it you will have a hard time duplicating with a thousand dollar Nikon or Canon. At least without sitting before PhotoShop for hours on end wondering if it is worth so much of your remaining life to produce these unique photographs. So, while 35mm cameras are moving into the dustbin of time, analog cameras like the Holga are moving forward in backward technology. This book demonstrates all the wonder that is the Holga camera. If you have a skewed viewpoint of the world, then this book is right up your alley because you will understand its nuances right off the bat. For those of the current generation of photo shooters, you will have to take a break from your reality to contemplate the creative world of the Holga. Don't want to move into the analog world but are interested in this historical corner of the photo world - then this book will give you something to really ponder. Give the book a read, then go and fork out a couple of twenties and get yourself your very own Holga and see the world through the lens of a cheap, but highly artistic, plastic camera.

I buy used .. was in good condition! .. the book is great .. a good choice for those who love Holgas.

Great for new ideas!

I found this book very interesting if you want to know about the Holga's world.

Great book on Holga (lomography) style picture taking. The excellent images & tips make this book well worth reading.

Beautiful artistic photos taken by Holga, I love looking at them and think how I can replicate them! Fun book to have

A great book for a simple camera.

A fun little book on the beloved Holga camera. As a fan,collector and user of toy cameras I found this book a reasonable introduction on what Holgas can do. Lots of samples and humorous insights from users make for an interesting read. My only criticism of this book is the size.... it should have been a larger format. It feels like it was made to be included in the box with the Holga Camera. The Diana camera included a book on some models to inspire folk to go out and shoot and be part of a lifestyle. I get the small fun format fits with what the Holga is about but a glossy larger format would have put the Holga on a higher pedestal (which it deserves) and a great addition to the book shelf. If you come across this on sale or used its well worth the time to pick this one up.

The listing must either have been incorrect or seller sent me different book, not sure. It's the same book but it was in hard-back, the reason this matters is because I was looking to complete my Holga CFN camera box with the original book it came with. The book itself and contents is fine and I didn't pay much for it so no worries.

Photographically you either love or hate the Lomo approach. It is easy to dismiss as a con to pay over the odds for what are cheap plastic cameras with cheap plastic lenses. A second hand top quality SLR from a "big name" manufacturer will be cheaper, more versatile and offer superior optics. So what is the point? Inspiration and encouragement is my answer. To to go out there and take pictures, with the minimum of fuss or thought. Lomo deserve to be applauded for keeping alive film as a format with a new generation of users, and their publications for encouraging anyone, stand alone digital camera or phone users as well as the committed fans of film to look around them and record as many aspects of it as possible. To sample and compare feelings at the extreme sharp end of photography try the works of a photographer like Don McCullin. It is amazing to realise that he and the Lomo community are talking about the same medium. There is something out there for everyone.

My favourite book about my favourite camera.If you like the idea of trying a plastic camera with a naff lens but are unsure of jumping in (esp price of film / develop / scan) then buy this book to see what it is all about.

Das Buch hat nicht nur ein sehr praktisches Format, es ist auch noch gefüllt mit vielen verschiedenen und coolen Bildern, die eine sehr schöne Inspiration für diejenigen ist, die sich eine Holga oder Lomography angeschafft haben. Auch für Fotografie interessierte ist es eine wundervolle Bereicherung. Super für Ideen um mit analogen Kameras zu arbeiten. Preis - Leistung mehr als super. Kann ich nur empfehlen.