Ludlites Love Water
Blender Gallery is proud to present its fourth annual photographic exhibition shot entirely on plastic cameras "THE WORLD THROUGH A PLASTIC LENS V4".
This year, the exhibition is subtitled LUDLITES LOVE WATER features water-themed work from 8 photographers, now collectively know as the Ludlites; Dave Chin, Heleana Genaus, Kyle Gerrity, Tim Gibbs, Steven Godbee, Tim Hixson, Andrew Hoyne, & Roxy May.
In true luddite fashion, the Ludlites are plastic camera enthusiasts who turn their backs on digital imagery and champion the power of lo-fi photography. Occupations of the Ludlites include art and commercial photographers, cinematographer, designer, publicist, IT professional, gallery owner and financier.
Reveling in minimal controls and questionable quality - yet regularly and rampantly exploiting these features - they choose to shoot on Holga or Diana Cameras.
There is a unified agreement amongst members to achieve the best quality possible along with the highest photographic integrity, while artfully exploiting the imperfections of their equipment. One of the members physically modifies the focusing control on the camera to a set distance making his equipment one step up from the most basic pinhole camera. Another explores the unpredictable beyond the picture taking stage, experimenting with mixing his own chemistry for processing his images, producing striking results. Another characteristic of these cameras is the potential for random overlapping multiple exposures and one member purses this direction. For this water themed exhibition, one Ludlite has even experimented with shooting through lens cavity filled with water.
"The unassuming Holga and Diana+ Cameras are here to save you from future of digital pixels and images shared on small screens on cameras or phones. We have all become numbed with photography, there is no denying it, but a chunky camera made almost entirely of plastic has been put on this Earth to save us. It will reawaken your vision, fill you with joy, make you see beauty when you thought it had disappeared forever, and bring out sunshine on a cloudy day."
In the early 1960's the original ‘Diana' was produced a small firm in Hong Kong - the Great Wall Plastics Factory - as the ‘people's camera'. It was mass produced, lightweight, larger format and dirt cheap. Crafted entirely of plastic, each camera cost about a dollar.
As a mainstream product, the Diana was pretty much a failure and was discontinued in the 1970's. But as a cult artistic tool of avant-garde and lo-fi photographers - it was a rousing success! They loved its soft & dreamy images - shots that present a deep and other-worldly story through super-saturated colors, unpredictable blurring, and random contrast.
The Diana is now mainly popular in Western countries and still retains the ‘people's camera' ethic. However, in today's digital world, they seem to connect with photographers on a more intimate level.
Perhaps because of the frailty of the camera, the delicate vignetting effect or even the thrilling potential for serendipity, these Dianas have become much loved by their owners, much like her lo-fi sister, the Holga.
In 1982 the first Holga ran off the conveyor belt in Hong Kong, originally conceived as a cheap medium format camera for the US market and for American photography schools. The concept is simple - a minimal and inexpensive camera using medium format 120 film.
It would contain only the bare necessities for photo mechanisms, and provide a cheap and accessible alternative for students and enthusiasts to dip their toes into the otherwise very expensive world of medium format photography.
Today, the Holga movement is expanding every single minute, with new devotees, organizations, and online sites spreading like wildfire. Photographic exhibitions are held in some of the most prestigious galleries on the planet. Ironically, as camera design becomes more technical, automatic, and sophisticated, Holga's low-tech appeal grows stronger and stronger for us; those who relish its quirky and unpredictable nature.
It is estimated to over a million plastic cameras sold worldwide last year.