Holga and Lucky film accident pics (2 Viewers)

mjp

Founding member
I'm sorry you had to see that.
Well, I didn't have to see the driver, but the scene was gruesome enough.

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So why photograph it then?

I don't know. I had to.
 
Sad... What is up with the photos? I love the look of them. I seem to remember that you said that these Holgas are cheaply made, but they take very interesting pictures. What kind of film are you using?

Bill
 
The film is a very cheap and odd Chinese medium format film called "Lucky." It's hard to find (I have to buy it from a guy in Taiwan), but it's worth searching it out. Those tones and unusual highlighting are all a result of that film. To give you an idea, it was a bright day - but note that the sky is ominous looking in all those pics. That's the Lucky film.

The Holga just makes it difficult (impossible) to focus accurately and adds the blurring and darkening - or "vignetting" - to the corners of the pics. It could also be responsible for the lines through the images, but I don't see them on the other 3 rolls of Lucky that I just had processed, so the lines may also be a flaw in the film itself.

The Holga is all plastic, including the lens. It really is a cheap piece of shit, but I am addicted to it. The Lucky film is weird and unpredictable, as is the camera, so when you put them together, the result is either totally unusable (I have a lot of those), or really cool. Not much middle ground.

--

Carol and I are collaborating on a special book of Holga pics (limited edition of 12 with 24 actual prints - not reproductions - tipped in), but it probably won't be finished until next year. I'll have more info as it develops. No pun intended. I don't want to say exactly what we're doing because I think it's a great idea and I don't want someone else to do it before we do.


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mjp or should we call you Moe? Those are eerie photos. It reminds me of pictures in an old encyclopedia from the 50's. You are quite the photo journalist.
 
how expensive is that film? those photos have such thick texture to them, i love that look (reminds a little of mary ellen mark's stuff, and also nz photographer laurence aberhardt).

also: sign me up for a copy of this photography collaboration please, mjp, whenever it becomes concrete.
 
The film is not expensive. Do you have a medium format camera? I can show you where I get it. Last time I bought it was $22 for 10 rolls. So...19 cents a frame? Something like that. The Holga/Lomo sites that sell film will always sell Lucky at a premium though (when they can get it) so don't buy it from them.

I shoot 6x6 so only get 12 frames per roll. You can get more frames (16) out of the film by shooting 4.5x6, but I prefer the square format.

Oh, and those pictures of the fire...the fact that all 12 came out is kind of unusual. If you could see the rest of my proof sheets there are two or three borderline interesting or useful frames on each one. The rest are junk or under or overexposed...there is very little control with these things, so "Lucky" is a good name for the most interesting film. Because you're lucky to get any pictures. ;)
 
I was talking with strangegirl and she pointed to the bent, and twisted railings.

Did the truck go over the railings, she said.

Also, she noticed the 10 mph sign.

Man. I drove a rig. If the sign says 10 mph - you wann'a go one per hour.

Did the truck go over the railing? Or did the truck go fast into the curve?

The pictures are just outstanding.
 
Did the truck go over the railing?
Or did the truck go fast into the curve?
The truck went over the railing on a straight section of six lane freeway.

A car on the freeway was smashed and burning too, and I suspect - though I have no idea what really happened - that the car cut off the big rig by trying to get over to the exit on the right side of the map at the last second.

But who knows. If I was the driving the big rig I'd just hit the little car cutting me off, I wouldn't drive myself off the side of the road. Maybe the guy just fell asleep. The break in the railing was very short, so he went over quickly...he didn't take out a long section of railing.

There's helicopter video that gives you a different perspective. I was already gone by the time the copters arrived...there were nowhere near that many trucks or personnel around when I was there.

The 10 MPH sign is on Walnut St. You can see where it makes a right turn on the map.

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This is my favorite one keep an eye on the " Shadow Lady " in the background...scary :eek:

Hi,
I would pay to own a copy from the negative of this. Beautiful composition. I especially love that the firehose is perfectly in focus, while the trees on the right are out of focus. You see this same effect on beautiful old Daguerrotypes from the 1840s. Very eerie, but the fact that the truck is not there keeps it from being morbid. Ever thought of doing a few copies and selling them?

Bill
 
Something tells me that the book will be out of my range if there are only 20 copies of it.... Still, I'd love to own one, if possible.

Plus, I want that Hydrant Picture. Would it be in your interest and feasable to edition it? It really is amazing.

Bill
 
I don't know about selling prints. I'm pretty sure I don't want to do that.

What if I put a high-res printable sized scan someplace private. Like another certain recently popular "boxcar" image?

I think the book will be expensive, yes. I doubt I could afford to buy one myself. Not just because there will be 24 original prints - some of the prints might be crap - it is more involved than that, and it is difficult to explain without giving it away.

And I also don't want to build it up into some GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS OBJECT that fails to live up to expectations. heh. I just want to hold off on details for now.
 
It's pretty easy to develop your own black and white film (color film has to go to a lab). The stuff you need pays for itself after about a dozen rolls. But the negatives by themselves are hard to make any sense of, so you need a proof sheet (which is just the negatives laid on a piece of photo paper and a clear glass laid over to hold them flat). You don't technically need a darkroom to make a proof sheet either, but you need a lot more shit, and different chemicals and a really dark room in your house or apartment. With running water. Which usually means the bathroom is your darkroom...

Also most modern scanners have negative attachments that let you scan the negatives and print out proof sheets that way. I don't know how many of them accommodate the 120 size film the Holga uses though. Any way you slice it, it's a pain in the ass. You sure you want to use the Holga? Ha.

But you didn't ask about any of that.

No, you can't take it to an automated photo processing joint. It has to go to a pro or specialized lab. But usually your local photo developing place will take the film and send it to the pro lab for you (do you see the costs adding up yet?).

If you live in a big city you can probably find a pro lab to go to. If you don't...there's always the bathroom. Or I guess the mail. A&I in Los Angeles will do it through the mail if you live up in the hills or something. You could call them and ask:

A&I Mail Order Services
933 N. Highland Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90038
Phone: 888-666-5199

Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (PST)
Saturday & Sunday: Closed
 
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If you ever read Danny Sugerman's book Wonderland Avenue, you might consider it a miracle Iggy is still alive, whatever he looks like (Sugerman himself died a couple of years ago at 50). I'll always remember him as the 32 year old Iggy who pulled my hair and whacked me across the face repeatedly with his tshirt at a Minneapolis show in 1979. That's what I get for standing right in front of him I guess. I really should have seen that coming. I mean, I guess I expected him to go into the audience and provoke someone at some point, I just didn't expect it to be me.

Re: truck VS guardrail, I drove by the spot on the freeway the other day and the big rig skidmarks start in the second lane from the right, so who knows what the hell caused him to go off the freeway like that. It must have been ugly, whatever it was.

Re: Holga - wow, a lot of people have asked me about Holga via PM and email since posting those pics, and all I can tell you is don't use those pics as a benchmark of what you'll get out of a Holga. The camera fights you every step of the way, so it's not a reliable way to snap a spooky pic of the family or anything else, really. That I got 12 printable frames off one roll should be considered unusual. FYI, budding Holga-ites.
 
I'll always remember him as the 32 year old Iggy who pulled my hair and whacked me across the face repeatedly with his tshirt at a Minneapolis show in 1979. That's what I get for standing right in front of him I guess. I really should have seen that coming. I mean, I guess I expected him to go into the audience and provoke someone at some point, I just didn't expect it to be me.

are ya TRYING to tick me off?
because if you are, it's working!

don't mind me. just jealous. I'll just mention (once again) that I had dinner with Chubby Checker at my aunts house when I was a kid, and I saw his girlfriends boobs when I knocked on the door of his tour bus.

jealous? thought so....
how ya like me now!

alright.

speaking of Wonderland Avenue and Iggy and such, anyone ever read this?

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if you haven't and this era of music interests you, pick it up asap like.
 
And they get Burroughs to plug the front cover and I thought Prince and Roger Waters to play Coach a hogie festival was pandering ......don't mind me I'm jealous about not getting slapped by Chubby Checckers girl friends boobs
 
yeah, it does seems a little like pandering, but Burroughs is featured quite a bit in the book, both in the discussion of the etymology of "punk" and as a sort of spiritual leader to counterculture.

and let me tell you, those boobs were fantastic and had an incredible effect on that 11 year old me. pandora didn't have that in her box.

mercy mercy me. things ain't what they used to be...
 
PLEASE KILL ME is good indeed. It's funny that a lot more books were written about the second and third waves of punk in the early 80's (hardcore) and 90's (grunge) than the first wave in the 70's.

I don't understand how Price playing that nightmare festival is pandering. Pandering to who? Is the rest of the music more "experimental" or "hard"? I guess I don't understand since I don't know the bands.

But Prince is a pop/funk musical genius. Music is music. But if he's really out of place there, then, yeah, booking him was probably just a ticket selling ploy. I'm just wondering though, does he really sell tickets anymore?

I've seen a lot of bands and musicians in my day, but those improptu shows at First Avenue when Prince would play with members of his own band and/or members of the Time or whoever happened to be in town at the time were some of the most creative and fun shows I ever saw. One night the Time played at First Avenue and Prince just played the drums through the whole set. Never came out from behind there, and I'm sure some of the audience didn't even realize he was back there. Ha. One night he played bass for his band, just like - nothing to it. That little fucker could play anything you put in front of him. "What's this? An Oud? Cool! Plug it in!"
 
just got my first set of holga prints back. not bad(about a 50% success rate) but there doesn't seem to be many light leaks. i'm excited to get started on my next roll...
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Those are good for a first go-round! A lot better than my first color roll. 50% is probably a reasonable percentage to expect to be viable. Once you get to know the individual camera you can expect more. But I was thinking about it, and when I shot 35mm the "success" rate was about the same. Or maybe even less. If you get one real good shot off a roll you're doing well. The Holga might make you think about the shot more, which would tend to give you a greater number of interesting prints.

A friend of mine at work also started up with a Holga, and his has a light leak that affects one corner of every shot...but mine doesn't leak at all, and it doesn't look like Carol's does either. I just got a new one though (so I can shoot color and black and white at the same time), and it seems rickety, so I expect it to have some leak issues. Every one of them is different. Not exactly precision engineering at work there.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/e_main.php (<--best place to buy)
http://www.lomography.com (<--best place for info)
 
Not to revive an ancient thread or anything, but -

I got my hands on 10 rolls of expired AGFA APX 400 black and white film and I am anxious to see what that does. Lucky is still my favorite, but they don't make much ISO 400 stock, mainly 100, so it's next to impossible to get Lucky 400.

AGFA stopped making camera film in 2004 (the curse of digital photography), and their APX 400 was semi-legendary for it's "atmosphere," which most photographers don't want, because atmosphere equals unpredictability. It is a very fine grain film and was intended to be a precision film, but it ended up having a very distinctive look, which people seem to either love or hate.

The rolls I have expired in January of '05 so they are almost ripe. ;) I suppose that only in a Holga would film way past it's expiration date be a good thing.
 
I'll always remember him as the 32 year old Iggy who pulled my hair and whacked me across the face repeatedly with his tshirt at a Minneapolis show in 1979. That's what I get for standing right in front of him I guess.
Well glory be to the internet. Someone sent me a video...


You don't get to see Iggy abusing me, but you can see a teenaged mjp getting Iggy's signature on his Metallic K.O. t-shirt the day before the show. If I look like a dope in that video, it's because I was a dope. And everyone got to see it on the twin cities PBS station. So really, what more could I ask for?

30 years have passed and I'm still a dope. Though I wouldn't push my way through a crowd of jerkoffs for anyone's autograph anymore. So perhaps I have made progress.
 

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