Newspace Photo, Portland, OR
Advanced Toy Camera workshop, May 22-23, 2010

Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA
Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity
Aug 7-8 & 9-11
The weekend workshop is an introduction to the ins and outs of shooting with Holgas ans other toy cameras. Mon-Wed evenings are for reviewing work made during the days and exploring advanced Holga techniques. Guided darkroom time is also available 4-6pm and the darkrooms are open all day. An excellent way to explore Holga cameras and Seattle in the glorious summer!

-Workshops West, Pismo Beach, CA
October 1-3, 2010

-Project Basho, Philadelphia, October 23-24, 2010
-New Orleans Photo Alliance - PhotoNOLA, December 5, 2010

Stay tuned for more info, and please contact me if you'd like to set up a workshop in your neighborhood!

Photo Media Magazine, the Northwest's photo magazine, has a feature portfolio of my work; 6 images and a lovely article on a two-page spread. I've loved this publication since I've been in Seattle, and it's very exciting to be featured in its pages!

Moisture Festival - Seattle's vaudeville/variete/comedy/burlesque festival has spread all over Seattle, with performances in 5 venues, and now its ads are on buses around town, AND *4* billboards as well! They feature 2 of my photographs, and images by the other two official photographers (John Cornicello & Mark Gardiner).

In other BIG news, in December, The New Victory Theater in New York featured my photographs of the Flaming Idiots on a 15 feet high(!) banner that stretched 60 feet down 42nd St in Times Square. Read more about it in my blog and see more images.

42nd St, near 8th Avenue, New York

Moisture Festival Billboard, Seattle: center and left images (Trixie Little & Evie Hate Monkey, Godfrey Daniels with Simon Neale) are mine

Click on the spread to read the article on Photo Media's website

After 5 years of photographing the Moisture Festival, here in Seattle, we, the three photographers (myself, John Cornicello & Mark Gardiner) have pulled together an awesome selection of photographs into the Moisture Festival book: Comedy/Variete at the Moisture Festival, Seattle.

You can preview it online

Books are available at Books by the Way; you can also purchase it at the shows, or at Fremont Place Books (or call to order a copy to be mailed). Books are $36 + tax and/or shipping, and features just about (we tried!) every artist who has performed in the festival since we started taking photos!

Krappy Kamera Competition at Soho Photo in New York
March 5-April 3, 2010. The biggest and baddest of the toy camera shows, this one is a blast to be part of! Opens Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010. I'll be there for the opening!

Rayko Photo International Juried Plastic Camera Show Another of the great low-tech shows, at another of my favorite photo centers, this one in San Francisco. Feb 26-April 17, opening Friday, Feb 26th, 6-8 pm.

Holga Inspire moves from TC Photo Gallery in Longview Texas, to Umbrella Arts in New York, opening December 9th, through January 16th.

Portland:
Toying with Creativity: Plastic Cameras at Newspace Photo
Sat & Sun, January 23 & 24, 10-5

SPE National Conference in Philadelphia
Toying with Creativity: The joys & Frustrations of Plastic Cameras
Industry Seminar, Thursday March 4th, 10:30-11:45, sponsored by Freestyle Photographic Supply
conference website

Moisture Festival in Photos
Opened Wednesday, November 25th, at Hale's Brewery in Seattle is an exhibition of the best of Moisture Festival photographs from the three official photographers: myself, John Cornicello and Mark Gardiner, from 2005-2009. This was also the debut of the book of images from all these years. Preview the book here | Moisture Festival website

Holga Inspire moves from TC Photo Gallery in Longview Texas, to Umbrella Arts in New York, opening December 9th, through January 16th.

Benham Gallery, Seattle
My show is now down at Benham, but I have a few images from this show, and many other images as part of their closing sale - 20% off matted and framed prints. Call the gallery for hours this week, and come by for the gallery-closing party on Sunday, Dec 20th, 4-8 pm.

My new series of images from Israel is up at Benham Gallery in Seattle through December 12th. This is part of Benham's last exhibition before it closes its doors and morphs into Benham Fine Art.

www.michellebates.net

"This month's Reader's Homepage belongs to Michelle Bates, the fairy godmother of the Holga who wrote the definitive book on the subject, Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity. If you don't already have a copy of this marvelous book, the first thing you should do when arriving at the site should be to click on its link and buy a copy. Clicking on the large Holga photograph on the splash page takes you to a gallery that contains collections of both Holga and "Other Series" images made with "real" cameras. The "Quirky Holga" collection is filled with the kind of offbeat images that almost define the way most people see the Holga - as a fun house camera - but her monochrome images (don't miss "Fried Doughboys") amp up the fun so much it will make you smile and run out and buy a Holga today.

The "Graphics" collection shows the other side of Holga, the fine art side, with images that are subtle ("Monument, Thailand") and complex (Javitz Center roof") and demonstrate that it's not the tool but the artist who makes the image. In "Urban Oases" Bates takes that concept a bit further with mellifluous photographs that blend nature and nurture to create images that are abstract and realistic at the same time. I loved all the photographs in "Nature Holga," especially "Beach Grass, NJ" that has a definite Solaris (Russian version) feel to it while others have the wistful feel of old glass-plate photographs. The funky and clever site design is by skyhand design (www.skyhand.com)."

www.michellebates.net/pc-call.html

Krappy Kamera XII - deadline December 30th.

Rayko Photo's 3rd Annual Plastic Camera Show, deadline January 5th.

Passed - check out the winners online for most of these:

Holgapalooza, by toycamera.com, deadline September 25th. I'm one of the jurors for this one! http://www.holgapalooza.com/

Glazer's Camera Holga Contest in Seattle, deadline August 25th

Holgamods.com has a Holga contest titled "Rust", deadline September 1st.

Photomedia Center Holga Show 3.0 - deadline November 7th

-Shutterbug Magazine

-"Just one word: plastics. Photographer captivated by simple Holga"

Arizona Daily Star, June 11, 2009
Michelle Bates is the queen of the plastic camera.
Hey, she wrote the book. Literally.
"Toying Around With Plastic Cameras" is a how-to guide that covers almost every conceivable question you might have on the simple and exciting world of plastic and toy cameras. ...

- Toy Cameras For Serious Photographers

-Video of talk at B&H Photo in New York

-Web interview & book review: Four Corners Dark

-Radio interview on KUOW's Sound Focus

-Talk, panel & workshop at the f295 Symposium in Pittsburgh, May 28-31, 2009

-Two-week workshop at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, August 9-21, 2009

More info on all of these on my events page.

I'm always working on planning other talks, classes and trips, and I'm open to suggestions and invitations!

-Bangkok, Thailand
Holga Limited, the company that makes the Holga, will be hosting an exhibition at Photo Imaging Expo 2009 at Siam Paragon Department Store in Bangkok from April 1 to April 5, 2009. Check out Holga's new website: Holga Inspire.

-Penland, NC:
"Range of Possibilities," Penland School of Crafts Faculty Exhibition, Penland Gallery, Faculty Exhibition for Summer 2009 teachers, March 17-May 10, opening March 20th.

-Berlin, Germany:
Holga Exhibition at Atelier Freier Fotographen, April, 2009, www.aff-berlin.com

-Tucson, AZ:
Curious Cameras at ArtsEye Gallery, April 24-July 19, 2009. Opening reception April 25, 6-9 pm.

The site features the work of several photographers, resources, news, and will fill out more soon with info about the various cameras and more.

Holga Limited is gearing up to do more outreach with photographers, photo organizations, schools and exhibitions, so keep your eyes on the site! This month, they're a sponsor of the Krappy Kamera Competition at Soho Photo in New York. See my blog for stories about meeting Holga Limited's photographer outreach goddess, Christine So.

10-12 am: Free talk
1-5 pm: Workshop

On January 21st, I'll be giving a free talk on the plastic cameras scene, with lots of images from fantastic photographers and info on making your own.
Reserve a space for the talk here: B&H Event Space info.
Register for the workshop here:Workshop registration.

The full blurb:
Toy cameras fall into the category of simple, inexpensive film based cameras made almost entirely out of plastic, even including the optics! However, don't be mislead by the low-tech "cheap" approach to this kind of photo gear; they are capable of taking amazing and unique images in an almost accidental fashion.

The Event Space is pleased to have photographer Michelle Bates, who is author of the book "Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity", share her expertise on "Toy Camera" creativity. Michelle will delve into this esoteric style by showing work of photographers shooting with Holgas, Dianas, and other toy cameras, with lots of images for inspiration! If you're interested in the world of plastic cameras, this will be a great introduction. See the latest in new Holga models and accessories as well as Michelle's vision and work. After the lecture, Michelle will be signing copies of her book which will be available.

Like all of the Event Space programs, Michelle's morning session is being offered free of charge. However, for those of you wishing to get deeper into the art of toy camera image making, Michelle will be leading a more in depth workshop in the afternoon. This portion of the workshop requires a fee to attend and more information can be found by visiting Michelle's website at www.michellebates.net

The workshop is $75, and includes free Fuji 120 Film (thanks Fuji!) and Fuji Instant Film for use during the workshop, and a 20% discount on "Plastic Cameras: T...(more)

F295 is pleased to announce that the Camera Club of New York will be hosting an exhibition entitled F295: 21st Century Photography from January 16 – 20‚ 2009. Opening reception: January 17th, 7-9pm.

This show coincides with the F295 Seminar at B&H Photo on January 18 and features work from a selection of artists who have been involved with the various F295 events over the past 2 1/2 years.

Presently confirmed artists include:
Jo Babcock
Craig Barber
Michelle Bates
Gabriel Biderman
Laura Blacklow
David George Brommer
Martha Casanave
Jill Enfield
Dan Estabrook
Jesseca Ferguson
Alida Fish
Joy Goldkind
Robert Hirsch
Kerik Kouklis
Scott McMahon
France Scully Osterman
Mark Osterman
Tom Persinger
Jerry Spagnoli
Keith Taylor

www.f295.org
www.cameraclubny.org

First, two series of work at Office Nomads, a coworking space on Capitol Hill. The "After the Fire" series is up for the first time in a few years; these are intense and beautiful images of a Vashon home after it burned in 2000. I also have up some Holga nature images. The space is open M-F, 8:30-6; check it out.

At the Convention Center, I have an image in their "Only in Washington" show, which will be up through May.

In addition, I have an image in the show: "From the Playa to City Parks…BRAF Paves the Way" at the McKinley Art Gallery in Reno, from October 23-December 11, 2008.

Hope you can check them out!

On January 18th, 2009, several of the symposium presenters will be holding a panel discussion at B&H Photo in New York City. I'll be there!

This looks like a great event; I tried to fit it into my schedule this year, but just couldn't make it. The presentations are all on one day, and only one at a time, so everyone gets to see them all, then there are two days of workshops. Also portfolio walk, keynote speakers, gallery openings, panel discussions, shmoozing, etc. Can't wait!

If you missed it, it's available here: Listen to the interview
or online: Sound Focus.
To skip to my bit, it's at minute 43:30.

Their blurb:
At 2:50 p.m. – The Art of the Holga
A professional digital camera can cost you over five thousand dollars. A plastic toy camera called a Holga will run you about twenty five bucks. At that price, you may not expect the Holga to do much. But local photographer Michelle Bates has staked a good part of her career on this mass market Chinese gadget. She writes about the Holga and shares some of her Holga photos in her book, Plastic Cameras, Toying with Creativity.

*This was rebroadcast on August 4th, 2008 as well.

The exhibition is centered around a time-lapse series of images of the building of Black Rock City, better known as the Burning Man festival, in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

In addition to the video are large format prints (up to 40" x 60") by 9 photographers made at Burning Man over several years. We were all part of a residency program to make and mount the prints in Berkeley earlier this year.

The show is up until August 3rd (with somewhat limited hours, generally Sat-Sun 1-5:30 - check the website) in a spectacular setting - worth the trip from San Francisco! I'll be there for the opening.

www.reichek.org

The Brooklyn Rail: Seeking Imperfection

The Independent in London: The cult of Holga: The sixties' camera makes a comeback

And, see a video of me talking about toy cameras, made at the SPE conference in Denver by Calumet Photographic.

"Unrefined Light: Image Making with Plastic Cameras and Their Friends" at the Foundry Arts Center in St Charles, MO.
**I'm the juror for this one!**
Exhibition: March 28-May 9, 2008.
Opening: March 28th, 6-8pm
Information & entry form

New Orleans Photo Alliance
Juror: Susan Burnstine
Dates: Feb 16th-April 1, 2008
Workshop: I'll be teaching there May 17 & 18 (after the exhibition, unfortunately).
See the show online

"Krappy Kamera X" at Soho Photo in New York.
Juror: Jill Enfield
Dates: March 4-29, 2008
Opening: Tuesday, March 4th, 6-8pm
Talk: I'm speaking on Thursday, March 6th, 7pm
See the show online

"National Juried Plastic Camera Exhibition" at Rayko Photo in San Francisco.
Dates: Jan 8th - Feb 9th, 2008
Opening: Tuesday, Jan 8th, 6-8pm (I was there for the opening, and am teaching a workshop there Feb 9th & 12th)

"Holga Show 2.0" at Photomedia Center. Up now!

The main museum and the space where this show is are fabulous! There are 9 full bodies of work in a space that seems both roomy and intimate. See some images here. More to come!

The opening to the exhibition was snowed out in a rare NW snowstorm. We're having a panel discussion with reception on March 1st, 2008.

And, I'm teaching a workshop through the museum on Satruday, April 26th.

This was a great event! Read all about it in my blog.