Dead Holga

[megan]

I'm in mourning.

I killed a Holga.
Inadvertently.
It was my first one.
All broken in and light leaks found and stopped up.

I had put it in a canvas bag on top of some clothes. It must have fallen out when I took the bag out of the car. I heard something and felt something hit my leg, but I couldn't find what had fallen out. We looked around and under the car. All over.

Then a few days later, I'm walking back from the park, and I see a Holga carcass. I thought - "Poor Holga! How could someone be so negligent with such a yummy camera?!" All self-satisfied, knowing my 3 were safe and warm, at home, in one piece.

OR SO I THOUGHT!!!!!!!

When I was gathering my Holgas for the Halloween wedding. I couldn't find one. Aaargh! I serached high and low. I shook out the skirt that I thought was wrapped around the Holga. No lovely little plastic fantastic came tumbling out.

Then after the wedding hubbub subsided, I embarked on a mission to find my lost Holga. To no avail.

Then in started to dawn on me - that poor run-over Holga, that died such a violent and undeserving death at the wheel of a car- was MINE.

RIP first Holga. (sniff)
ROADKILL. (sob)

Megan
"Oh, what can you do when she's dressed in black..."

[another view]

Hope it was insured! Bummer - Never had one, but I saw a scan of 35mm film thru one the other day (image runs past the sprocket holes) and it intrigued me...

[mtbbrian]

My condolences my friend...
Hang in there!
Brian

[Gerry Widen]

She served you well and had a good life. Hopefully there was no suffering and she is in photo heaven.

[Chunk]

I'm in mourning.

Sorry to hear of your loss. Are you going to replace it right away or wait for the digital Holga?

[Asylum Steve]

...all I kept thinking after reading your post was: DEAD HOLGA, that'd be a cool name for a rock band...

The camera will be missed, and yet somehow, life must go on. If it were me, I'd dedicate my future Holga shooting to the memory of the other two cameras' fallen bretheren...

[megan]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Are you going to replace it right away or wait for the digital Holga?

I think I'll replace it relatively soon - I've been aching for one of the spiffy modified Holgas.
::SIGH::

I sure miss Holga #1, though, with all the measurement marks on the film advance made with nailpolish.....

Megan

[walterick]

Megan, that camera was with you in Colorado.

That camera was with you when I visited you in New York.

That camera is still with you in spirit, though it may not seem so right away.

Next time you're shooting a hard situation and you hear the subtle "click" of a Holga shutter off in the distance that is your Holga, bringing you guidance. Letting you know there is life after... um... shall we say the assimilation of a few massive light leaks

Be strong my sista.

Rick

btw If you're smart you'll start taking up a collection here for your next one

[megan]

Indeed. That is the Holga I took the portraits of you with in Colorado. It had also been with me to:

-All over England
-Belfast & areas north, Northern Ireland
-Isle of Man
-Hong Kong
-Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi in Thailand
-Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura in Japan
-Quebec City
-Puerto Rico
-St Thomas and St John, US Virgin Islands
-Houston & Dallas, Texas
-All over New Jersey
-Philadelphia, PA
-Maine

A well-travelled, oft used camera.

Megan

[mtbbrian]

I sure miss Holga #1, though, with all the measurement marks on the film advance made with nailpolish.....Megan

What was the purpose of all the marks?
Inquiring minds want to know!
I have been thinking of getting a new one or two myself. A modified one for sure. That is all I will shoot with anymore.
Brian

[megan]

Wow! you have become quite the dedicated Holga-er.
Holger?
In a futile attempt to evenly space my double exposures between each other, I used nailpolish (Chanel Vamp, only the best for my Holgas) I made marks on the film advance. It's still sketchy at best, because you know as well as I do that the film is bound to unwind a bit and you have to keep turning the film advance to get it wound. So no matter how well you measure it, you're still subject to the shoddiness of the camera's design and construction. But that's all part of the fun?

megan

[mtbbrian]

Vamp? Must be red?
;)
Do you use cardboard, from the flim box, to help tighten the spools? I think I have seen it on Holga Mods?
I just make sure and put the the frame number in same spot each time.
I LOVE HOLGAS!
Brian

[megan]

Nope, no cardboard. I have trouble enough changing the film quickly to catch something!
I try to get the frame # in the center, but somehow I end up overshooting once in awhile. But the marks on the advance are for when I'm using the whole roll - not frame to frame, but advancing slightly, exposing, advancing slightly, and exposing, for my work that is the layered, multi-exposed abstract stuff. I was attempting to create a system so that not a single portion of the film is left un-double-exposed.

There's a madness to my method.

Megan