Customer Reviews

Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I cannot speak highly enough of this book. The range of imagery, discussion of technique and conceptual development is first rate. The Plastic camera genre has been with us for many years but this is the finest book I have seen on the subject.
The photography is quite superb and well set out. I am a lecturer in Photography and I will certainly be recommending this book to my library and my students.

There is so much great content in Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity! Not only does it pose as a great jumping off point for those new to toy camera photography, but it provides many awesome tips and techniques for seasoned veterans alike.
Plastic Cameras starts off with a nice little history of The Diana camera and her many clones, and then moves on to the star of the show: Holga. The book then jumps immediately into a large selection of toy camera portfolios by the likes of Nancy Rexroth, James Balog, and the author herself Michelle Bates. The book is worth the price of admission just for the inspiration contained in these portfolios. There are so many different styles and techniques on display it makes you want to pick your camera up and go shoot.
The middle section of the book deals with selecting film types, loading up that first roll, and what to expect (hint: expect the unexpected) from your adventures. There are also some more detailed descriptions of various other toy cameras, their origins, and what to expect when using them. I think my favorite chapter though would have to be chapter 9: Holga Camera Modifications. Those 3 little words have helped create an entire community of devoted and creative fans that, I believe, make the Holga one of the most fun photographic tools around. The number of things you can do to a Holga to enhance your experience are endless, and Michelle touches on some of the best in this chapter. Whether it's adjusting your apertures, how to load 35mm film into this medium format camera (you can load 35mm film into a non 35mm camera?) or creating a PinHolga, they're all here. The book ends off with how to go about getting your film processed, making contact sheets, and even film scanning information.
This book is an invaluable resource for toy camera shooters, and a must read for anyone looking to open up and get creative with their image making. If you're looking for a release from the digital choke hold on photography, grab a Holga, pick up a copy of Plastic Cameras, and get out there and shoot!

Without a doubt, the best all-around guide to plastic camera photography available. Well written, beautifully illustrated, informative yet entertaining. Michelle Bates has done a great job. If you're just curious, she will inspire you. If you're into the plastic fantastic, she'll motivate you. And if you've been doing this stuff for years, she'll make you feel good about yourself. It's about time somebody did it, and I don't think anyone could have done it better.

Kent Nunamaker

This is a great book that very much needed to be written. It is filled with photos and instructions that could inspire people who want to be more creative with their point and shoot digital cameras but are covinced that shooting film is a difficult, precise and expensive operation.

A Holga costs about $20.00, film is readily available and Michelle describes how anyone can shoot and then develop their own film right at home. Also included are easy to follow instructions on how to modify your Toy Cam to get more of what you want from it.

The great photos can also bring veteran Toy Camera users out of those shooting slumps that sometimes descend upon us.

Great job Michelle!

Terry Hinshaw

As someone who has been involved with digital photography for over 10 years, I first became curious about 'plastic' cameras after seeing an exhibition of the author's work a few years ago. The images were hauntingly beautiful and I was surprised to find out they were completely un-touched by any digital process. Holgas, one of the models that form the centerpiece of this book, can produce a variety of images depending on how they are set up, or in some cases, not set up.

Michelle's book is fun to read and offers many tips, tricks and techniques for the amateur and seasoned photographer alike. I disagree with the reviewer who described the images in the book as too 'artsy fartsy'. I feel they appropriately serve to illustrate the techniques discussed and are a good overview of contemporary artists using 'plastic' cameras.

This is a great title for the curious. I'm now inspired to attempt some panoramas and double exposures as described in the book.

This review is for the original edition of PLASTIC CAMERAS published in 2006 (with a yellow cover). I purchased this book in 2008 and read it then and just re-read the whole book so I could compare it to the 2010 release of a second revised edition (with a blue cover).

My amateur photography hobby began in my childhood with a hand-me-down Brownie, then a Kodak 110, then a Minolta SLR in my teens with a photography class my freshman year in college using black and white film and learning developing and printing in the darkroom. I then moved to point and shoot film zoom lens cameras, then digital photos. Sprinkled in the middle were some plastic cameras such as a panoramic and one like the Action Sampler. For almost 15 years I have carried a 35mm camera (first film then later digital) to take photos of daily life and often shot for fun such as city street scenes `from the hip' before ever hearing that people on the Internet were suggesting such things.

I discovered Lomography in 2008 through an article in an art zine and was curious. I started buying vintage cameras such as the Diana and Polaroids and some toy cameras. Buying Michelle Bate's book was part of my plastic camera and vintage camera learning process that year.

My first impression of Bate's 2006 book was the same then as it was on my re-read. First, it is a serious tone book not a fun or casual attitude book. While I liked seeing the photographs in a gallery the fact that they were all from accomplished serious photographers of more traditional photography first then later branched to play with plastic cameras and still received accolades was off-putting to me. I didn't get the feeling that an amateur photographer like me could produce photos that were decent or `worthy'. Perhaps the fact that some of the subject matter was extraordinary (war scenes, third world countries) or themed images (the type exhibited in art shows) that are not a part of my ordinary life aided my impression.

One of the biggest reasons that I felt that images like those featured were not within my abilities was how the image was made. It seemed that everyone was doing their own film developing and further manipulating the image in the darkroom with the printing process. Bates herself describes how much that part of the process is integral to her final images looking the way they do. Some had techniques I still don't understand such as gold tone and doing colored washes. I probably will never do a silver gelatin print.

I was unsure how my images processed by a regular photo lab would turn out. It was unclear how the photos were straight out of the plastic camera versus which parts of what made it a `good' image were tweaks done in processing. Then and still now, I have no desire to have an in-home darkroom. That takes things to another higher level which I'm not going to do. I don't have adequate ventilation in any room of my house, and I fear health risks with exposure to those chemicals.

There is a substantial amount of information on how to adapt the Holga camera with modifications to make better images. I was tempted after reading this book to go buy a Holga. But, I felt I'd invested enough money in the 20+ vintage cameras and newer toy cameras I owned by then, and drew a line in the sand with my spending. Thus, that section was not of use to me. That section is great but it's of no use to any reader who doesn't use a Holga. Also I note that much of the same information can be obtained free on the Internet with a little digging. If you own a Holga and like your information neatly packaged up in a book then this book would be great for you for that information alone.

What put my experimentation with plastic cameras into hibernation (until this month when I began dabbling again, inspired by this book) was the fact that I have been unable to find decent lab processing of the film. The only camera shop left in an hour's radius of my Connecticut home, in 2008, refused to print my Diana's 120 film black and white photos as they said some were double exposed (which was intentional on my part). Some negatives were blurry and they said they were not `worth' printing into a photo. I also paid over $20 for just the developing.

Bathes keeps saying that plastic camera photography is cheap but from my perspective this hobby could add up fast! I tried to salvage them by digitally scanning them and trying to view the images using Photoshop Elements but found that was so time consuming.

My efforts to play with toy cameras hit a dead end again last week (in 2011). I took some color 35mm film from a plastic pinhole camera to a warehouse store's lab and had to ask special permission for them to not cut the negatives along the common cutting line as the images didn't line up perfectly as with automatic film advancing cameras, and some images would have been cut in half. When it came time to print them, they refused, saying they were blurry (as many pinhole photos can be). I asked them to print them anyway and they did but it took one technician a long time as it was a custom job and they really were not set up to do work like that.

Bates does not discuss ideas for getting film developed and printed in this book, she says to process it yourself. (I am still looking for options.)

This 2006 edition book is written with enthusiasm but I felt it came off with a snobbish art-world attitude rather than what I experience when I am on the Lomography site or various plastic camera blogs and Flickr that show great photographs done by amateur photographers having fun fooling around with them. The tips in this book are most helpful for Holga users. The best part of the book is the gallery section, I loved the photos against the dark background.

Books on plastic camera photography are still rare so this does not have much competition. I rate this book 4 stars = I Like It. It is well-written and professionally packaged and seeks to elevate toy camera or plastic camera photography as worthy and good so despite my issues with the book, I didn't feel it deserved a lower rating of 3 stars = It's Okay.

I am nearly done reading the 2010 second edition of this book with a blue cover and in the near future will write a separate review on that edition as there are some differences.

This book has beautiful and inspiring images taken with toy cameras. Aesthetics aside, it contains wonderful tips and tricks to improve your own photographs. Very informative.

If you own a Holga, Diana, Blackbird Fly or any other plastic camera, this book will really get the juices flowing. Fantastic photography, great tips on use and modification. There is also a section on toy digital cameras.

She goes into great detail on how to set up and use your Holga, discussion on various film type, and a reminder that Holga cameras DO FLOAT, made me laugh.

This book should be included with every plastic camera, if you are buying a plastic camera for someone, they will need this book.

Although I own a very nice DSLR, I also own 3 1/2 Holga's, a Diana and am looking to purchase a BBF this year.

Fantastic resource for anyone owning a Holga. Insightful and inspiring, with heaps of great tips. I am trying out infrared film in my holga because of this book!

The images presented are impressive and the educational content is excellent. Lots of great information on the modification of cameras, how to use them and backgrounds of some photographers and how they are successful with the cameras they use. I highly recommend this book and think it would be a great addition to any photographers library.