About the Art – Arlene

I enjoy using various kinds of photographic equipment to capture images that please and inspire me. I started out with a 35 mm SLR film camera and then switched to digital when that became available. With digital cameras becoming increasingly more complex, it was a refreshing experience when I was introduced to the Holga camera in a course I took at Peninsula Art School in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

The Holga camera is a cheap low tech piece of equipment with absolutely no frills that is made in China. It is made of plastic, including the lens, and uses medium format 120 mm film. Because of the construction of the camera, light leaks happen frequently despite sealing the seams with electrical tape. These light leaks can produce interesting results such as the vignetting found around the corners of the photographs. I love the unpredictability of the resulting image and am always excited to see the end result. After having the film processed by an outside laboratory, I scan the negatives into my computer and print using Adobe Photoshop.

After recently taking classes in using the iPhone, I have added that to my equipment repertoire for capturing images as well. The photography apps available are amazing in their creative and editing capabilities. It is said that the best camera is the one that you have with you and I have found that to be true in many cases where the iPhone is the only camera I have. Regardless of the equipment I use, I am continually searching for interesting shapes, textures and light qualities that I hope will elicit an emotional response from those viewing my images.