A post from the summer just now getting up:

My lovely friend Lolo had a post somewhere where she talked about disenchantion with Holga shots. I'm having a similar struggle. There's a fine line between control and not. I can't tell whether to feel worthless or not at taking a photo that 'accidentally' looks cool. The end product is the same, so what's it matter the intention or the process? But yet that does matter. I like a print more if I find it is printed B&W darkroom by hand.

I took a roll of half-frame Holga prints to get printed at this wonderful devoted-to-film camera shop in north Portland. When I came to pick it up they said they wanted to put one of my prints in their customer show (flattering, but also makes painfully obvious the normally-ignored fact that every shot I take is being looked over by other photographers, making me feel uncomfortably exposed). The print they chose was given to me. Disappointment. I quickly flipped through the other ones. Crap. Crap crap crap. Dammit. (Turns out the holga viewfinder is cropped a lot tighter than what the actual view will be). But really, it didn't seem like there was any artistic merit to these photos at all. Just the cheap gimmick of the frayed half-frame.

In the weeks since I took the photos I've started to like them more. I'm really glad I got prints of them instead of just got them to a disk, because there really is a lot more flexibility in holding the print in your hands and turning it this way and that to get different perspectives than to have an orientation 'chosen' for you on the computer screen (what is that special keystroke that lets you flip your screen again?) And while each image as a whole (especially those that are both half-frame and double-exposure) tends to be a bit busy and overwhelming, I do really enjoy looking closely at each image, picking through their density.

The photo the place chose is here, and the overall gallery (large but worth looking at because there are some really great shots) is here.

Things to think about:
A) Try to look closer at mistakes that make cool photos. You might learn something about a composition or exposure or style that you would've never experimented with otherwise.
B) Try to learn more about the Holga. Take more photos, become more acquainted with the beast.
C) I'm currently trying to take more control over these types of half-photos. No more double exposures unless I know exactly what it'll look like, and a record of what shot goes onto each frame (or each half-frame at least).

This post will mean more once I actually get some of these photos scanned, but (as evidenced by the subjects of the surrounding posts) I am pushing through a backlog of photos that stretches farther back than the summer. I'll get there eventually.

EDIT: The post with the photos I'm talking about is here.