Joe Reifer

One roll of 35mm film shot in a Holga toy camera over the course of a week during lunchtime neighborhood walks. Captions were written after the photos were assembled for this web gallery. This roll got a bit stuck in the camera, and only 8 total images were made before rewinding. Displaying 7 shots from one roll is unusual, 7 out of 8 even more unusual. Enjoy the unusual, or usual. I can’t tell the difference anymore.

Related:

• Shooting 35mm film in a Holga
• Holga 35mm panorama technique (Holgarama, or Sprolgarama)
• Scanning Holga images with borders

Why So Serious (Sanchez) — by Joe Reifer

This Holga image was taken by the side of the railroad tracks in Emeryville while commuting to work on my fabulous Swobo Sanchez stainless steel fixed gear bicycle. This nimble ferrous machine of the two wheeled variety provides the possibility of exercise and meditation twice per day. In many ways that makes the Sanchez the most important piece of equipment that I own.

Speaking of important things, here are some blogs that I’ve been enjoying in the ol’ feedreader:

• Sorry I Missed Your Party — hands down my favorite photography blog these days. Brilliant.
• Edward Winkleman — photographers need to keep up with the art world, and Ed kicks ass.
• Photo Business News — John Harrington’s blog is extremely informative.
• City Snaps — San Francisco street photography by my friend Brad Evans.
• Oakland Geology — a fascinating look at the East Bay.
• Mark Tucker — an excellent photographer, and also an interesting thinker. Highly recommended.
• Vincent LaForet — If you are interested in photojournalism, this blog is essential.

The images above were shot on Fuji RTP 64T tungsten slide film and cross-processed in C-41 chemistry. I often shoot Kodak 400VC film in the Holga, preferring to err on the side of overexposure when shooting negatives — sometimes 160VC just isn’t fast enough on cloudy days. I was a bit concerned that the Fuji 64T wouldn’t be fast enough, but cross-processing yields an effective 1 stop speed increase and it’s been sunny lately. The Fuji film is $4.95 per roll, and also works really well for night photography.

On a musical note, I was doing some organizing in iTunes a few weeks back and stumbled across a track from the Hammers of Misfortune album The Bastard. Somehow I never bought the CD before it went out of print. According to the Hammers website, The Bastard will be back in print soon. I happened to have an Amazon gift card and found I could download the album for 9 bucks. I’m kicking myself that I waited so long to get the full version of this masterpiece. The second Hammers of Misfortune album The August Engine is one of my all-time favorites. The Hammers often get filed under heavy metal. I guess that fits. If you listened to Iron Maiden as a kid, you’ll find this music irresistible. If you like prog rock, krautrock, or 70′s psych, but aren’t much of a metal fan, you may still find that both of these albums have strange powers. You can read more and listen to some sound samples at the Aquarius Records website. Andee from Aquarius released The Bastard on his tUMULT label in 2000. I hope it comes back into print soon!

Update: Apparently a new Hammers of Misfortune double album is due in late October – there are some pre-release MP3s posted here.

Ennui Dolphin Suite — by Joe Reifer

Please Return My Chihuahua! — by Joe Reifer