While the majority of the photography industry is going down the road of higher spec cameras, Holga embraces imperfections and film photography. Why did Holga decide to go down such a different road when compared to other conventional camera brands? 

We made this decision 30 years ago. At the time photography was exclusive to the middle classes and the founder of Holga – Mr T.M Lee – wanted to create a camera that was technically and financially accessible so that anyone could experience photography. Three decades on we haven’t changed and still keep this goal in mind, continuously developing new products and cameras that most people can enjoy and afford since the costs of keeping up with the digital race can be very high. While we do our best to preserve film photography, we also understand the cost of film photography has increased too, which is why we have explored other roads by inventing more innovative Holga accessories for digital products for our users’ needs. We have developed Holga Lens and Filters turret for the iPhone 4, and Holga lenses for other notable DSLR’s. However, we have also recently released a new panoramic camera for film photographers. This way we still keep our values, yet we are always looking for ways to serve the needs of our users and meet market demand by being adaptive and innovative.

Of course, not only does our company continue to embrace our recognized trademark for imperfections, we are deeply grateful for our fans and photographers who also find the beauty of imperfections an essential part of their art. Their support drives us to keep going along this road and motivates us to create more and more new products.

Have the big camera brands such as Sony, Nikon, and Canon had a negative impact on Holga at all? 

We adore their cameras and the advances in technology offer photographers a whole new level of experiences. However, we don’t see this in a negative light as people have the right to choose what suits them best; on the other hand we like to think we provide an alternative tool for creative expression. We believe film and digital photography can co-exist and complement each other. Indeed, digital cameras have changed our picture taking habits, but on the other hand when people use the Holga camera it is an entirely different experience and one you can’t get from digital. Now that we have developed new product attachments for adapting digital cameras, we are excited to see how the combination of Holga and high tech works together. Our hope is that it will be a positive way to bring the Holga experience to the digital world.

As images with a vintage or retro look are popular, it is clear that many people today embrace lomography. Why do you think this remains popular at a time when camera technology is so advanced? 

Indeed, there are sizeable communities who are really into analogue photography and they are willing to spend time in darkrooms and allow themselves to be taken in by the charm of film. There are many reasons for its popularity. I think it is mainly thanks to the internet as more photographers can now show their Holga images online and share them with people around the world. We often receive updates from photographers showing their Holga photos on their blogs and websites, so cyberspace has helped in the revival of film photography. Also, apps for smartphones also indirectly promote our cameras and as a result some people may get the urge to try out a real Holga camera.

I also think that the shooting process has a lot to do with its popularity, film photography slows down a person’s pace and compels people to have different thought processes. They need to take the time to consider the subject, light, the composition and the unpredictability of the results are simply more attractive, personal in nature and add a very real dimension to what they do and the results they obtain. Also, film grain, quality and texture along with our Holga signature styles mean that the results are consistently mesmerizing.

And the big question – What do you think the future holds for photography? Will there still be a place for lomography?

Like many other art forms and fashion trends, photography has also transcended time. Take music as an example; some of us prefer pop or the latest tunes while others prefer nostalgia and older styles. We are confident that the future holds a special place for film photography since photography remains experimental in nature. It is an organic and dynamic process and we believe that a sizable number of photographers and users – regardless of their age – will explore and eventually be captured by the creative world of film photography.

Interestingly, we often hear from photographers who say that they have been using the Holga for a long time and that the digital age doesn’t affect their choices. They always have both in their camera bags ready for action. Once you build up a relationship with something, it is hard to let it go and we believe it is likewise for film photography and imagine that people won’t lose their passion for it and that it will continue to be significant for this reason. A large number of photography teachers and artists will continue teaching and showcasing their own style of fine art photography, and our company strives to move with them and play our personal part in preserving the art of film photography. In all, future and trend work like a circle so evidently there is always a backward or retro trend to balance things out. So, we could say that the new needs the old and vice versa. For this reason, everyone at Holga believes analogue photography can endure the test of time and whether we consider recent trends to be a revival or simply a continuing passion for classical photography it will always have a place in post-modern photography.

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In pictures: Creative film photography of the Eiffel Tower

We interview leap on their new photo app

Lo-fi toy cameras, like the Lomo and Holga, produce pictures where normal considerations of quality are completely forgotten, but interest and vibrant colours are added instead. Rather than crisp, sharp images, the resulting pictures end up with a heavy vignette, lack of detail, blurred edges and surreal colour – but surprisingly the effect is rather pleasing. In this tutorial we’re going to take the image traits of these cameras and apply them to a digital image in Photoshop to recreate the lomo look. You will learn how to work with layers, masks, perspective correction and gradient fills to build up and apply the lomo effect. Remember to download the start image from the link below.

1. Prepare in Camera Raw

Open toycamera_before.dng in Adobe Camera Raw, select the White Balance tool and click the grey area of the 2010 sign. Select the Straighten tool and draw a line horizontally, parallel with the pavement. Set Exposure to 0.35, Recovery to 65, Fill Light to 15, Brightness to 20, Clarity to 20 and Vibrance to 50, then click on Open Image.

2. Correct the distortion

Go to Filter>CorrectCameraDistortion. Set the Vertical Perspective value to -20. Hit OK. To minimise the crop, use the Rectangular Marquee tool to make a selection from below the pier entrance to the bottom of the image. Go to Image>Transform>Perspective and increase the width at the bottom. Use the Crop tool to remove the chequered background.

3. Create depth of field

Duplicate the Background layer, then go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and enter a Radius of 15 pixels. Click on the Background layer and go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Levels. Click OK without making an adjustment. Hold down Alt and hoven between the Levels and top layer. Left click when the cursor changes shape to clip the layers together.

4. Using a Layer Mask

Click into the Levels layer’s mask and then select the Gradient tool from the Tools palette. From the gradient options, click the preview and select a Black/White gradient. Click OK, then select Radial from the Gradient Type menu. Click and drag from the centre of the image to the far left to reveal the sharp image beneath.

5. Add a vignette

To add a vignette effect, click on the top layer and then go to Layer>New>Layer. Select Edit>FillLayer and then choose White from the Contents menu. Go to Filter>CorrectCameraDistortion, then in the options menu decrease the Vignette amount to -50. Click OK. Click on the Blending Mode drop-down in the Layers palette and select Multiply.

6. Lighten the tones

Make sure that the top layer is selected and go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Levels. Set Shadows to 8 and Highlights to 233, lightening the picture. Click OK, then go to Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Hue/Saturation and increase Master Saturation to +20. To finish off, select Flatten Image from the layer options menu.