Slit-Scan Modified Holga Camera

Russel Kwan

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For a long time, I’ve looked for a way to impart a certain gesture that mimics head movements into my photography – and slit-scan photography may be an answer.  Once again, I am indebted to a colleague, Sheelah Urquhart, for introducing me to the concept of slit-scan photography.  This technique has very old roots, used by Robert Doisneau among others, and has been adapted for Hollywood movie effects, including the star-gate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

For my initial experiments, I needed a simple, cheap camera.  Enter the Holga.  The Holga camera is an amazing thing.  On the one hand, it’s a crappy toy camera with a plastic lens and no control, other than a cheesy “guesstimate” focusing system.  It has only one shutter speed (which varies from sample to sample – mine measures about 1/125 sec, while Wendy’s measures 1/140 sec) and “B”, one aperture (despite the claims of Holga, the aperture control thingie on my sample just flips a little metal hole inside, but the effective aperture doesn’t change at all), and one focal length (60mm, a moderate wide angle on 6x6cm film).

On the other hand, because it’s cheap and very simple, the Holga is an engineer’s paradise for modifications – the worst thing that can happen is the loss of a $40 camera.

My very simple variant for slit-scan is to install a cardboard slit inside a Holga camera.  I then set the shutter speed to “B”, open the shutter, and while the shutter is open, I advance the film while panning the camera to make pictures.  It takes a bit of practice, and the waste of quite a bit of film to get the hang of it, but it’s possible to capture gesture while making pictures.

Stay tuned for further developments….

March 2009