These images were shot with cheap plastic film cameras from 1995-2006. The Holga is a medium format camera with a square frame and costs around 30 dollars. The Ansco Pix Panorama is a 35mm camera that crops the frame in a narrow rectangle, and costs around 10 dollars at your local drugstore. These cameras have no real aperture settings or shutter speed adjustments. They are very simple tools with spring shutters, plastic lenses, and hand winders. The limitations of using such low-tech cameras forces me to give up technical control, but liberates me to simply focus on subject matter and composition. The only thing I could control was the film I used. I mostly used tri-x, but I also found that using infrared with a red gel taped over the lens created interesting effects (see sunflowers, plantation photos and Galaxy 500). I also experimented in the darkroom by selectively masking areas the print before sepia toning them to bring out subjects I wanted to highlight.
When I travel, I am often seeking transcendent moments to photograph. I strive to make the sum of the image imply something more than its parts. This moment may have a sense of peace or it may strike me as being in some way incongruent or ironic. I never know when or where these moments are going to happen. Perhaps it is simply a matter of seeing a moment in a certain way. Whatever it is, I find traveling with these plastic cameras helps me to be more aware and ready for these moments when they happen.
