Holga Blog

Have you ever tried to shoot a self portrait? Have you ever wanted to? Or are you on the other side of the fence where you hate having your photo taken and the main reason you took up photography was so you could be BEHIND the camera at all times?

Self portraiture seems to be one of those things that photographers either love or hate. I understand the hesitancy when approaching this subject. It can be very intimidating and scary to bare your soul in front of the camera. Sometimes though, you simply have no choice. Some of you know what I mean.

When you turn to self portraiture as a means of expression, it can be very liberating. When there is that creative urge or voice inside your head just begging to be let out and nothing else seems like it will do the trick. When those photos of trees, flowers, or streets just aren’t working, and you feel frustrated… try some self portraits.

By using a Holga, or other toy camera, you are stripped down to the bare essentials. You, and a piece of plastic. No technicalities, fancy setups, or Photoshop. It’s you, on film. Whatever you want to be, whatever you need to express. You are the photographer AND the subject. It’s all in your hands, heart and mind.

Last year, I wrote an article on “10 Tips for Better Holga Self Portraits” and hosted a challenge on Holga Blog. I did notice in the comments that many of you were still hesitant to take on this challenge. So, I’m going to address your top three issues right now, and I’m going to keep it real – we all have insecurities but this isn’t about that. If you are easily offended, stop reading now.

1. “I am not attractive enough!”
I’m not sure when I said that this challenge was a beauty contest, but this challenge is NOT a beauty contest. It’s not about being attractive (which is entirely subjective anyway), it’s about expression. If you still can’t wrap your head around that then maybe you aren’t ready for this challenge and you should go shoot some more flowers or trees

2. “My photo lab technician will think I am crazy and I will be embarrassed”
Trust me, I’m sure your lab has seen MUCH more embarrassing, interesting, and weird things than a few of your self portraits. Not to be mean, but really, I can only imagine the things they have to look at day to day. Have any of you every worked in this area? I’d love to hear some horror stories!! It might help us all get some perspective.

3. “I hate having my photo taken”
Again, this is not a beauty shoot, or a family snapshot. This is you being you, having complete control over yourself and your expression – the sky is the limit. Get over yourself! I don’t want to see you, I want to see your creativity, what makes you, you and most importantly what you want from yourself. Think outside of the box, and do not worry about what anyone else thinks.

Whew! I feel a lot better! Now that I’ve gotten that all out, I am going to challenge you all again! I want to see more than a measly 15-20 submissions this time too. I am greedy, and I want my Flickr group to be filled with all of your Holga self portraits in a few months.

The deadline is July 20, 2010.  On July 22 I will post my favorites and there will be prizes for my top three favorites. (To be decided, but they will be awesome).

If you’d prefer to email me your submissions send them to holgajen@hotmail.com . Bonus points for anyone who writes me a little ditty on how they’ve over come their fears about self portraits from participating in this challenge.  There will be a thread to post these in, or again you can email me.

I look forward to seeing your work!! Spread the word and the self portrait love.

The smallprint

Actually, there’s not much smallprint at all. You retain all rights to your submitted photograph, but by entering the competition you allow us to post your photo on Holgablog, and the Holga Darkroom (linking back through to your flickr photo page). That’s it! Anyone around the world can enter the competition and the results will be posted by the end of July at the latest.

Any questions? Leave a comment!