jumpin' on the bandwagin'

Five years ago everyone wanted a digital camera. If you were a digital photographer you were really hip and technology savvy. However, a select group of purists were too anal to accept this so stuck with their analogs and film.

Fast forward to now. Everyone is an anal purist who wants to pay for developing and printing. Infact, the older, shittier or more faulty your camera is, the bigger your penis and/or boobs must be. It's a sign of power, it means you are full of artistic integrity. This type of power is best enhanced if you shoot with "toy cameras" - this could be any piece of plastic crap but if you really want a sure status symbol, you should go for Polaroids(something like a SX-70 is real indie and nice) or some type of lomo camera(Holgas are very vintage and nice). To really stick with your blooming artistic integrity, you should bash anyone that uses photoshop. It's best if you join with another anal purist so that you can bash the photoshop user together. This is so that they can learn to be more true to themselves.

Since I wanted to be an anal purist myself, I've been really wanting to buy some artistic integrity aswell and at last got a Holga for my birthday after coveting it for two years. Ok, spiteful sarcasm aside, I have really wanted to try shooting with this camera for a while. I've shot two rolls of expired Kodak 400vc Portra now and spent 2 hours today scanning each friggin little neg. Most laborious task ever, but I am poor so I do it myself on school scanners.

First roll: I had no idea what I was doing, the absence of manual shutterspeed/aperture hadn't sunk into me and most shots were underexposed. Somehow I was under the impression that f/11 at 1/100 could produce nice tones in a room with only a TV screen for lighting. So naturally, when I got the developed negs and saw a lot of blank frames...I put them somewhere where I wouldn't see them and let them collect dust and scratches.

Multiple exposure of my head and fireworks = bad idea.

That was NYE, the next morning I flew to China and forgot about the stupid thing.

Eventually I took the Holga out again and took some more crappy shots.

This one is so pathetic it makes me giggle.

And here we have the karaoke shots with the only available lighting being the TV screen. To think this is AFTER brightening on photoshop (ok, bash me).


Once more. I am so so smart.

This is probably the real pièce de résistance though: a photo of an eyebrow poster inside a dimly lit hair saloon. And the dust on this neg is enough to kill an asthmatic.

Friend getting his hair done. Haha, it's this sort of perm ("fireworks perm" is direct translation from Chinese). The hairdresser basically twisted pieces of his hair around pipe-cleaners. I did a few bits =P Think this photo was actually a double exposure, one of the back of his head, another from the front. Don't know why the pipe-cleaners look like neon glow sticks, could be the blue flash.

OK, Second Roll (finally):

I sort of learnt my lesson and started acknowleding the f/11. Only shooting in daylight from now on.

My grandpa in the kitchen having lunch. Kyoot ^^

View from the balcony of my great-grandmother's flat.

Get's a little more exciting from here because it started snowing in Nantong! I hasn't snowed this much in Nantong since I was born. Last time it snowed enough for it to pile I was probably only 6. Below are views from our balcony.

Lame little double exposure ^^

Sort of like this one. Even if there is barely anything there.

More double exposing. This is one of the better shots, though that's not saying much.


No it isn't deja vu, I am just fond of snow.

My cousin checking out the snow.

My turn. Up to my knees, yikesss.

Cliche snow scene.

Last frame: I think she looks cute kthx.


I have about 3432341 times as many digital photos, but since I'm converting to kitsch Holga photographer, I'll upload them one day when I'm feeling nostalgic =P

Goodnight, I have work to do and so do you.

- Sunni

OOOH! almost forgot, happy Chinese New Year. This has been my second Chinese New Year on blogger :)