November 6-28, 2015

New Work: Holga Panoramas

When one looks through the lens of the Holga- a plastic toy camera- you see the present image in front of you. What you don’t see are the light leaks, blurring or vignetting the film is producing when you the click the shutter. That’s what I love about the Holga; you don’t know what you’re going to get until you develop the film. Sometimes you end up with blurry, non-useable film, but those times when you hold the film up to the light and see a wonderfully produced, sometimes crazy, sometimes haunting image, it can seem like magic. When you use film and the unpredictable Holga you leave everything up to the beauty of chance.

All of these images are taken with a Holga using 120 slide or color negative film. They were shot around popular Washington, DC and New York City landmarks. I have purposely tried to capture panoramic landscapes by double and triple exposing the film.

Leah Appel works both as a commercial and fine art photographer. She works in a variety of mediums including digital and film photography and is an avid instagramer. She has shown in numerous galleries and group shows in the DC area. She is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Photography. She splits her time between New York City and Washington DC.