The HOLGA Show 2008 is on exhibition now through Jan. 5th. The Holga Show will also be featured in the December Gallery Stroll on Friday, Dec. 5th, from 6 pm to 9 pm. Please join us!
SAANS Downtown's annual Holga show, curated by Shalee Cooper, brings together work by artists from around the world in celebration of the unique aesthetic of the plastic "toy" Holga camera. We intend to continue earning our place as the premier international showcase for photographs that are Holga-made.
Born in 1982 in Hong Kong as a decidedly low-fidelity way to capture images to the medium format 120 film favored by commercial photographers of that day, the Holga camera was an ugly-duckling that soon caught the attention of a cadre of aficionados that is still growing.
Its equalizing qualities lie in its simplicity — its utter inability to intimidate the user, no matter how young or inexperienced, and in the unpredictable effects that derive from its cheap plastic construction, along with its lack of precision exposure control. Effects are random and various, but often include minor light links, soft edges, vignetting and other characteristics that would most definitely be undesirable in a "real" camera.
Simplicity and unpredictability make shooting with the Holga entirely subject to the photographer's raw instincts. At the same time, the Holga is easily capable of creative manipulation such as multiple exposures and long exposures, for those who wish to push on with greater experimentation.
For these reasons, SAANS Downtown has embraced the Holga as wonderful way to involve the greater international community of photographers in the creation of a premier, respected annual exhibit with one common thread — the camera itself.
We are excited at the range and quality of the work submitted in 2008 for our second annual Holga exhibition. We'd like to especially thank our jurors, Amanda Moore and Steph Parke, for their expertise and hard work in selecting and promoting this year's show.
And of course we wish to thank and congratulate each artist represented in The HOLGA Show 2008:
C.B. Adams, Douglas Anderson, Jan Andrews, Rachael Ash, Terry Bayerlein, Cody Benson, Tim Benson, Ian Booth, Amy Bruns, Beau James Burgess, Rebecca Burton, Keith Carlsen, Blair Christensen, Holly Christmas, Peter A. Chudleigh, Adrienne Defendi, Céline Downen, Jeremy Elliott, Julie Ewing, Peter Fedolfi,
Felix Flores, Lisa Grant, Megan Green, James Haring, Steve Hoover, Elizabeth F. Howell, Tsuyoshi Ishida, Niels Jensen, Brett Johnson, Keith Johnson, Sabrina Johnson, Brendan Kawakami, Spencer Lindeman, Sarah Lyman, Sophie Masse, C. Gary Moyer, Jr., Jacquelyn Muir, Jayne-Anne Mulholland, Brian Nicholson,
Brice Okubu, Jason Olson, Rhett Olson, Josee Pribbanow, Tonya Remillard, Nancy Rivera, Christina Saez, Kelly Schaefer, Jordan Seldin, Caitlin Selle, Katie Clark Slick, Lindsey Stewart, Daye Sung, Chris Swainston, Todd Tanner, Ben Thomas, Michelle Thompson, Rebecca Tolk, Kristan Warnick, William Wolff.
Congratulations on a beautiful exhibition! We are grateful to each and every artist who participated in our call for entries and we're looking forward the photographs you create for The HOLGA Show 2009!
The HOLGA Show 2008 will be exhibited through Jan. 5, but purchased prints may come down after Dec. 17.
Here is an example of images from this years show by Rachael Ashe, Terry Bayerlein, Adrienne Defendi, Niels Jensen and Lindsey Stewart. Enjoy.
Check these sites for more information and reviews of our 2008 HOLGA Show.
15 Bytes review by Lane Bachman
http://www.artistsofutah.org/15bytes/08dec/page7.html
Deseret News review by Nicole Warburton
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705262825,00.html
City Weekly review by Cara Despain
http://www.slweekly.com/index.cfm?do=article.details&id=45FD5050-14D1-1357-9C06757D32D43DA9