Street Photography with the Holga by Alec Pain

Written by Alec Pain (Alastair Place)

The Holga can be a pretty easy win for street photography. With nothing much to think about but composition, and it being a fairly innocuous-looking camera, I’ve found it fairly easy to compose shots, remain fairly unobserved, and, in particular, work with light and dark to gain a consistent feel to my images.

If you’re a keen street photographer or keen to try it, Neil Milton’s articles are excellent at walking you through some assignments for beginners, how to capture expressions, dogs. and working in crowds.

One of his tips is to get closer – something I’m less comfortable with. Whilst I’m getting there, my work seems to concentrate on finding good shadow and light; silhouettes and to some extent expressions or interactions between people. Knowing what film you have in your camera can help bring impact to your shots.

I would also recommend going on a walk with fellow photographers and friends – they don’t have to be film photographers! Whilst you walk about, you do get a good sense of what’s about and there’s always a possibility that they’ll learn just as much from you as you do from them.

Here’s a little bit about my experience using the Holga for street photography in different conditions.

Find the Holga 120N on Amazon.

Finding Pockets of Light with the Holga

My style (or what I like to do most I have found), is to find areas of light and shadow. These pictures were taken on a lovely Saturday morning in London when the sun was still low in the sky.

And these during Holga Week in the middle of the day:

These, with the long afternoon shadows in Stow-in-the-Wold, in Gloucestershire, not too far from where I live:

Getting Closer When Shooting Street Photography

Here’s a shot from the same morning in London where the light highlights the chap at the back, and the man at the front is half in and out of the light.

And here’s one during Holga Week 2023 of people photographing Big Ben:

I just love the way that the Holga adds a painterly effect to your image. Using Turquoise film can also help with this:

And here’s an example of the same scene, getting closer to your subject. The last of the roll and the first of the next:

Finding Inspiration from Other Sources

There’s a binaural audio walk by the Canadian artist Janet Cardiff which I return to again and again called The Missing Voice (Case Study B). It’s part urban guide, part detective story, part film noir, but it’s been a lovely source of inspiration for taking more surreal pictures that for me form their own story (and also inspired a poem).

Using the Holga in the Rain

The Holga is also great in the rain. It’s pretty indestructible and black and white film can really bring some dynamism to an otherwise miserable day to be out with your camera. It’s definitely preferable to a grey sky day.

You could try a Holgarama to capture a busy place (I was waiting in line for a gig at Rough Trade in London, and it was the perfect place to stand and watch people walk by with their umbrellas):

In darker conditions, you can also try double exposures which give a further sense of movement and the rush to get out of the rain:

Putting the camera on B mode and panning your shot is also a great trick with a 100 iso film or lower (you could also add an ND filter to help reduce the light):

Street Photography in the Fog

When the fog descends, the Holga helps to enhance the mood and creates some glorious vignetting. This is in Witney in Oxfordshire, near to where I live:

Silhouettes and Night Time Photography

I love this exit at Liverpool Street station and I re-visit it whenever I can. I usually do a Holgarama and love the way the silhouettes interact with the colorful lights.

Picking out snippets or particular people from them is what I enjoy the most. This is my latest one – a whole role of film (cropped at the bottom and the black darkened):

And here’s some I’ve already shown in my previous articles on Holgaramas:

Here’s some silhouettes from this year’s Holga Walk (2024) at Tottenham Court Road:

And shop mannequins are also a favorite to shoot at night, in London’s Oxford Street and – in black and white – in Stuttgart:

Conclusion

In short, whilst your Holga isn’t ever going to be a Leica, you are guaranteed to get some fantastic results from it.

Get out there and shoot!

Thank you so much, Alec! Alec is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and be sure to check out his other articles, like The Holga Close-Up Lens: Photographing Flowers and Self-Portrait Experiment: Holga, Strobes, & Gels.

You can also check out more of his work on Instagram.

Leave your questions about using the Holga for street photography below in the comments, and you can pick up a Holga for yourself here on Amazon.

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Alec Pain

Alec Pain (AKA Alastair Place) is a pinhole and experimental photographer and a regular contributor for Shoot It With Film. Find his other articles here, such as How to Shoot Holgaramas and Finding Photography Inspiration Where You Live.

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