Ever want to try using a plastic or toy camera? In this class, Cara will teach you the basics of using a Holga, one of the most popular plastic cameras out there. Projects will encourage you to think out of the box with your photography as well as be open to experimentation. Holga images can have light leaks, areas of soft focus, irregularities, vignetting, and other unpredictable results, which encourage the user to embrace the imperfections and see their images in a new light.

Each week a project will be assigned, and two weeks later there will be a critique/discussion of the images from each student. This gives each student time to shoot, process, and scan their images. Students can utilize the darkroom at The Halide Project (if in the Philadelphia area), process and scan on their own at home or at their local community darkroom, or use a lab or send out service. The class will run for twelve weeks and will meet every other week, for a total of six sessions. Students will join remotely via Zoom. Cara will also provide a Google Drive link where students can share their images, and Cara will present them individually when class is held. Attendees are encouraged to talk about their work, as well as give feedback on others. The registration deadline is one week before the first class session.

Students are expected to own their own Holga 120N camera and have experience in the darkroom if they will be developing and/or printing their own film. (For those looking to purchase a Holga, they can be found at B&H, Amazon, and even Ebay. If found on the latter, make sure to confirm that the camera has been tested and confirmed to be functional.)

Students in the Philadelphia area who would like to use the Halide darkroom for the duration of the workshop should contact dale@thehalideproject.org to make arrangements.

Workshop Withdrawal Policy

We recommend choosing workshops with care after reading our withdrawal policy. If you have questions about any of our workshops, please contact dale@thehalideproject.org

Artist Bio

Cara is a photographer and instructor who has taught for the Cleveland Print Room, Cleveland Institute of Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh Filmmakers School of Arts & Media, and was recently hired to teach for the Cleveland Photo Fest. She also teaches experimental camera and urban exploration workshops through her own company, Ethereal Aperture Photo. She formed the Steel Forest Photo Collective in Cleveland two years ago, and was a founder of Analog Liberation, a community darkroom in Pittsburgh, PA. She has been a featured photographer five times by the Daily Holga, and was a featured photographer at Boston's three-day Toy Camera Festival. Photography has had a profound effect on her, and she believes in the power of it enriching the lives of others and using the medium to tell as many stories as she can. 

This workshop has been generously sponsored The Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.