A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

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Holga Challenge – Your Town: Kuwait City, Kuwait

This is what your regular Kuwaiti suburb looks like. I pass by this street every day on my way to uni. I’d normally hate it, except for the fact that both of my grandparents’ houses are across this street. I could always make a stop there if I didn’t feel like going to class. They don’t mind!

Note: This is the fifth in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday. See information for the rest at the bottom of this post.

By Nada AlMarshad

My love for medium format photography began when I purchased my Holga back in early 2009.

I didn’t know much about film photography back then, and getting a toy camera felt right at the time. I instantly fell in love with this camera the minute I held it in my hands, and grew to appreciate it even more since then.

Each Tuesday, our local supermarket has sales on the fruit and vegetables section. Finding a parking spot on a Monday morning is almost always impossible. According to mom, either you go very early in the morning, or don’t bother going at all.

All of my favorite photos that I have taken over the years had one thing in common — they were taken with a Holga! The nature of this camera gave me room to experiment with film and techniques without being afraid to ruin it.

I used to be an avid photographer, always trying different styles of photography until I found the ones that suited me best. That was until I started university in late 2009.

I enrolled in Kuwait University’s civil engineering program, a very demanding major that requires a lot of hard work and dedication (even sleepless nights at times!) School took most, if not all, of my time.

Two years went by and I felt like I wasn’t improving as a photographer. I started to lose interest in photography all together, until the end of 2011. I read a quote by Henri Cartier-Bresson (my hero!) and it stuck with me forever.

Sharq seafront promenade. A cool place to chill and read a book (but definitely not in the summer, unless you fancy a sunburn!) For some reason, I always find myself coming to this place whenever I get a new camera and want to shoot a test roll. I shot my first Holga film at location three years ago.

He said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”

It all made sense to me.

I made it my goal to challenge myself as a photographer this year, and take whatever opportunity presented to me to try something new, and just keep taking pictures. Naturally, this challenge was perfect to me. Another reason I decided to do this challenge is to re-discover the beauty of my own town, something that I desperately needed in the midst of the political chaos my country is going through.

I’m mostly used to taking photos when I’m abroad, since it’s easier to snap pictures of people when you’re a tourist. Carrying my Holga with me wherever I go and taking it out whenever I see something interesting and worth capturing was a challenge by itself, since people here are a tiny bit sensitive about having their pictures taken by a complete stranger, which I totally understand.

A very popular fishing spot. These kids were very camera shy at first, but after I talked to them, they didn’t mind me taking pictures. The building in the background is a huge fish market.

Another one of the difficulties was using 400ISO film. I usually work with either 100, 160, or 200 ISO film. Fast films (+400 ISO) will always result in overly-exposed frames, since it’s almost always sunny outside.

Now, back to my home town.

Kuwait City is the heart of this country. All together, Kuwait is roughly about the size of the state of New Jersey — 17,820 km to be precise.

Kuwait City occupies about 200 km of the area. That’s about 1.12% of the country, so you can imagine how tiny it is!

More fishing.

From the famous Kuwait Towers, to the Seif Palace, to theNational Museum, to the tallest sculpted tower in the world (Al Hamra Tower, that is), Kuwait City is home to most of the country’s landmarks.

What I love most about Kuwait City is the mix of the old and the new, which is greatly reflected in the architecture.

You have high-rise buildings at one side of the city, and the old souks at the other, and somehow the two blend so well together.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them, even though I know they won’t do this beautiful city any justice.

More images from Nada’s challenge are below:

The Kuwaiti parliament, or as they call it, Majlis AlUmmah (House of the Nation). I absolutely love the exterior of this building (not so much a fan of what’s going *inside* though). Anyway, the building was designed by the great Danish architect ?Jørn Utzon? sometime in the 70’s. (Same guy who did the Sydney House of Opera. Awesome, isn’t?)

Since the temperature can reach up to 52C during the summer, it’s very common to see ice cream vendors roaming the streets. (And if you happen to catch one, always go for Barrid Lulu! Best ice-cream .150 fils could buy)

One of the alleys of Souq AlMubarkeya. Kuwait’s oldest, and largest traditional market. You can find pretty much everything at reasonable price there if you are good at bargaining. Beside the shops, the souk includes a fish market, farmers markets for fresh fruits and vegetables, and a gold market. Interesting combination, I know. Also, if you happen to be a street photographer, this place is excellent for you.

Dalag Suhail, a restaurant in Souk AlMubarkeya, where they specialize in serving traditional dishes. It’s usually packed during the winter, when they serve the tea kettle on a coal plate.

Restaurants in Souq Almubarkeya.

The front of a Bisht* store. The sign on the left reads “Worn by the grandparents. Inherited by the grandchildren. Made from the finest wool.” (*Bisht: a traditional Arabic men’s cloak popular in Arabia and some Arab countries. Mainly worn for special occasions.)

Marina Mall, the second largest shopping mall in Kuwait. Between all the shopping malls in Kuwait City (not complaining since I’m a bit of a shopaholic), this, by far, id the quietest.

See  more of Nada on the web:

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Day six of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Thursday, with P.J. and Delhi, N.Y.

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Seattle, Washington

Photo by Jeff Soderquist.

Note: This is the fourth in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday. See information for the rest at the bottom of this post.

By Jeff Soderquist

Seattle, Washington is located in the far northwest corner of the United States, nestled in between the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges along the shores of the Puget Sound.

The Emerald City is a town defined by its surrounding natural beauty and distinct neighborhoods. Born and raised in Washington, I’ve lived in the greater Puget Sound region all my life, and had the pleasure of calling Seattle my home for going on six years now.

I have a very similar view of the Monorail and Space Needle from my desk at work. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

I’ve been told a time or two over the years that you can never truly appreciate Seattle unless you live somewhere else. To that, my response has always been, “What if I love it so much I couldn’t bear to leave?” I have immense pride for my town, which is why I jumped at the chance to share these feeling through the Holga My Town project.

The challenge called for each participant to shoot two rolls of film in their Holga, one color and one black and white. I chose to shoot with Ilford Delta 400 and Kodak Portra 400. From the 24 photographs we then had to pair those down to 12 which best represented how we see our town.

Freeway Park next to my apartment, where I walk my dogs. This is my favorite tree in the city. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

Initially I was teeming with grand ideas of things to photograph around town. My list of potential sites crisscrossed the city,
with a general disregard to any sense of order or theme.

While a few of those original ideas ended up making the cut, I quickly redirected my strategy towards the project to reflect more of a daily life approach to my town. Shot over the course of two weeks, I used my Holga to record how I live, work,
and play in my town.

The nature of the project is such that if done again, the resulting photographs would be completely different, yet the themes within them would be similar. Perhaps that is what I love so much about Seattle; the seemingly endless opportunities to explore and experience what it has to offer.

Since moving to Seattle back in 2007, my wife and I have bounced around. We’ve lived in a variety of Seattle’s distinct neighborhoods — the Central District, First Hill, Queen Anne, and Wallingford — before settling into our current location on the edge of Downtown and the vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Kerry Park (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

This time spent living in different enclaves around town helped me grow an appreciation for just how rewarding urban life could be. Having spent my college years in a small city with a thriving downtown core, I was becoming increasingly interested in locally owned and operated businesses in an attempt to distance myself from suburban strip malls and chain restaurants.

Seattle’s collection of communities with bustling main street style atmospheres was like a dream come true. I can honestly say I take pride in the fact that my town does not have a single Applebee’s or Olive Garden within city limits (although to be honest, several other large chain restaurants have operations in Seattle).

Bauhaus Books and Coffee is a Seattle institution, and a corner stone of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

One has to look no further than Seattle’s beer and coffee culture to see just how passionate this town is about locally sourced goods and services.

Coffee shops and brewpubs dot the city’s map, and are the corner stone of its communities. Not just one of each mind you, but several.

I could easily obtain a
cup of coffee from a different coffeehouse with in a three-block radius of my apartment for a week and still not exhaust all my options. That’s without even considering the likes of Starbucks, Seattle’s Best or Tully’s.

Seattle is a beer-centric town, which is good cause I am a huge beer geek. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

If you’re looking to unwind and have a beer, the options available to you are nearly as diverse. Most neighborhoods are home to a brewery, if not a handful. They vary in size and stature, from the nationally known Pyramid Brewery to the one-man operation at Northwest Peaks Brewery.

Beyond the breweries, it’s not uncommon for restaurants to have upwards to twenty beers on tap to quench your thirst.

Beyond caffeine and cold ones, the Seattle sports scene plays an important role in my day to day life.

I’ll admit Seattle isn’t necessarily known for its success in sports, but that does not mean I don’t pour my heart and soul into the local teams.

The Mariners might struggle to contend, but I still enjoy going to the games. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

Large portions of the country are without a professional sports team, and I simply could not fathom living in such an environment. The painful loss of the Supersonics in 2004 to Oklahoma City only made me appreciate this fact more.

What would warm summer nights be without trips to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners? Or Saturday afternoons in the fall without trips to Husky Stadium with my dad to watch college football?

Sports at its best bring a community together, and I am thankful to be able to live in close proximity to so many professional and collegiate teams and experience their game day atmospheres.

Another aspect I love so much about living in an urban area is the walkability factor.

I often use the bus to get around town, or as like to call it the Urban Limo. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

Growing up in a suburban neighborhood 30 minutes north of Seattle, owning a car was your ticket to freedom and mobility. Life without wheels was simply unimaginable.

My time in Seattle, however, has taught me that a car is not always the most effective mode of transportation through the city. Most of the areas of the city I’ve lived in around town have been set up in such a way that walking was easier and sometimes faster than taking the car.

Beyond walking, I’ve learned to rely on the bus, or as I like to call it, the urban limo, to link me between districts.

Ultimately the quest for the perfect apartment in a location near both work and a thriving community led us to move to a building located at the nexus of downtown and the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Pike Place Market, beloved by locals and tourists alike. (photo by Jeff Soderquist)

Everything we could ask for is within a 15-minute walk of our apartment, including work.

I’ll admit we have yet to go completely car free, but rarely do we take it out of the parking garage. Even rarer is our need to use the bus system.

Moving about the city on foot has helped me feel more connected to the city in ways public transit and a car never could. I feel more connected to things around me, I recognize people on the street, and have discovered new stores and restaurants I might not have otherwise.

Our central location in the city affords me the luxury to be able to walk to the Pike Place Market to get meat and produce for the week, have lunch up on Capitol Hill while I wait for film to be developed at the lab, and bar hop through Pioneer Square before attending a baseball or football game that night all without the stepping foot in a motorized vehicle.

By now you’re probably getting a sense for why when someone tells me that living somewhere else is the only way to appreciate Seattle, I simple reply, “No thanks. I have all I need right here.”

Seattle, my town, my home.

More photos from Jeff’s challenge are below:

View of downtown Seattle from the rooftop deck of my 16-floor apartment building.

The Seattle Central Library, a few blocks my apartment is my favorite place to photograph in the city.

Capitol HIll 60 Photo, one of two local labs I use to develop my film.

See  more of Jeff on the web:

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Day five of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Thursday, with Nada and Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Geneva, Switzerland

This man makes Japanese zen gardens by hand. He looks cool, doesn’t he? This is in the arts and crafts weekly market in Geneva. I love walking around there from time to time. This is a fantastic place to be for street photographers like me. (photo by Shaima)

Note: This is the sthird in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday. See information for the rest at the bottom of this post.

By Shaima Marafi

I started using Holga last year in April when I saw another photographer using it on her blog.

To be honest, I thought it looked hip and cool and that is why I bought one. I got it along with some Fuji films and some filters. I didn’t like the results too much at first, especially because my first few rolls had more out-of-focus pictures than good ones.

This is in the Old Town of Geneva, in French “La Vieille Ville.” I love this area. You will find a lot antique shops, the famous Saint Pierre Cathedral and canons in the City Hall. There are also many restaurants and cafes that serve authentic Swiss cuisine like fondue, rosti, raclette and filets des Perche. However, you need good legs to walk around because it is situated on a hill with steep streets leading to the town. (photo by Shaima)

I felt disappointed and stopped using the Holga, leaving it in the drawer for months. However, one day this past February when I was organizing my cameras, I suddenly decided to use it. I found there was a roll of film already loaded. So I just took it out for the day one Sunday and shot with it, thinking I would be disappointed again.

When the film came back from the lab, I was surprised and happy with the pictures. From that day, I decided to use the Holga more often. I read more about using the camera, the best films to use and I think I got a hang of it.

I still do get some out-of-focus shots sometimes (don’t you just hate it when you forget to turn the focus to the desired distance?) and, sometimes, they become too dark, but I am getting more shots that I am very satisfied with now.

Nowadays, the Holga has become a basic camera that travels with me. I just can’t part with it!

A view. I was hoping for better sharpness but oh well. This is also Lac Leman but from a small town near Geneva. (photo by Shaima)

For this challenge, though, I was a bit disappointed with the photos. I wish I got some better shots, but oh well. You know by now that with a Holga, the results are mostly unexpected. To be honest, that is what I love about it — the feeling between dropping my films at the lab and getting them. Waiting and being surprised is truly the best feeling about shooting with the Holga.

I used Ilford 400 for the black-and-white portion of this challenge and Kodak Porta 400 for the color. Those are my favorite films, especially the Porta, which I find works so well with the Holga.

Piscine means pool. That is also at the same hotel overlooking Lac Leman. Yes I love signs. (photo by Shaima)

My town is Geneva, Switzerland. Three languages — German, French and Italian — are spoken in Geneva. I have been living here for more than 10 years and I have grown to love this little town. I love the language, the people and the atmosphere. Not everyone I know does, though. Some don’t mainly because of having to learn French. However, I think that more people are speaking English now, compared to when I first moved here.

Geneva is the most populous French-speaking part of Switzerland (about 1,240,000 people). It’s an important financial center is is the fifth most expensive city in the world. Geneva also serves as the European headquarters for the United Nations, as well as many other international organizations such as the Red Cross and World Heath Organization.

This is in downtown Geneva. I like photographing people while they pass by here. (photo by Shaima)

I have been living in Geneva for many years, but now it’s the time to move back to my country, Kuwait.

It is quite an emotional time for me as I made so many friends here. I am glad to have done this challenge as it motivated me to use the Holga to take pictures of the town. We usually take photographs when we travel or visit new places, but we tend to forget doing it where we live. We really should record our surroundings more. I think it’s a great way to document the town and also parts of our everyday life.

More photos from Shaima’s challenge are below:

I love tomatoes! This is the farmers’ market that takes place every Wednesday and Saturday in the center of Geneva, in an area called Rive. If you, like me, prefer buying local and organic produce, this is the place to be every week. Even if you don’t want to buy, just smell the flowers, the cheese and the bakery as you walk around. I love snapping street shots there, too.

This is also at the farmers’ market. I love street photography, and I find many interesting people there to photograph, but I am somewhat scared to do it with the Holga (I do it a lot with the iPhone, though, since it is much more discreet). I fear that it would scare people off. So, I tried a photo from the back. I love her hat and I love how sharp it came out.

Who doesn’t love balloons? Yet another shot at the market. This is a stand where some school children were selling homemade baked goods. The money they make goes to their class. I am not sure for what exactly, but I find many children doing that in markets here.

That is my three-year-old son. I love the colors here. This is at the Hotel President Wilson poolside. This hotel has the most expensive suite in Geneva, or so I’ve heard.

My seven-year-old son. I was hoping for better sharpness here. I love this lake, “Lac Leman.” It is also known by “Lake of Geneva,” but I guess “Lac Leman” is more accurate since this lake is huge and goes as far as France and other Swiss towns. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. This lake was formed by a retreating glacier, and has a crescent shape.

A chair at a small hotel overlooking the lake.

The ice-cream man. It is summertime, so you will find many Movenpick ice-cream carts and stands around the city.

See more of Shaima on the web:

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Day four of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Wednesday, with Jeff Soderquist and Seattle, Washington.

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Waco, Texas

Note: This is the second in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday. See information for the rest at the bottom of this post.

By Mike Davis

Waco, Texas – Population 124, 805 as of 2010. Waco was founded in 1849 and is named for the Huaco Indians who lived in the area.

Located in the Heart of Texas, directly between Dallas and Austin, Waco was relatively quiet for some time. It gained some notoriety, perhaps infamy is the better word, in 1993 during the Branch Davidian Standoff. While the Davidians weren’t located in Waco city limits, we were the closest town to their compound.

President George W. Bush also chose Crawford, a little town outside Waco, as the location for his ranch and spent quite a bit of time there during his terms.

The Bosque River from Lover’s Leap

One of the jewels of Waco is William Cameron Park. Cameron Park in 416 acres inside the city limits located along the confluence of the Brazos and Bosque rivers.

The cliffs in the park were formed because of the Balcones fault that runs through the area. Lover’s Leap is a popular area of the park complete with a legend — A Huacoan Indian chief had a daughter named Wah-Wah-Tee who fell in love with a member of the Apache tribe. The two lovers had to run off together, as the Apaches and Huacos were enemies, but were intercepted by her angry father and brothers.

The tale ends with Wah-Wah-Tee kissing her lover before the two of them jumped from a cliff at the east end of the Bosque River and plummeted to their deaths.

Just to the top left of the Bosque River picture is the location of the Waco Mammoth Site where the bones of 24 Columbian mammoth were buried approximately 68,000 years ago when rapidly rising waters from the Bosque River flooded the site. They are currently working on receiving National Park status for the site.

Jacob’s Ladder

The park is also home to the Cameron Park Zoo, as well as some of the top-rated hiking and mountain biking trails in Texas.

A true test of fitness is a hike up the 87 unevenly spaced steps that make up Jacob’s Ladder.

Waco Suspension Bridge

Continuing down the Brazos River, we find Waco’s iconic symbol, the Waco Suspension Bridge.

Built in 1869 by the renowned New York firm of John A. Roebling Co., the firm that had originated the suspension span bridge concept, and later oversaw the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the bridge spanned 475 feet and contained nearly 3 million locally produced bricks.

The bridge helped Waco grow along the Chisolm Trail.

It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1971 but is still in use today.

ALICO Building

Another Waco icon is the ALICO building. Built as the home of the Amicable Life Insurance Company in 1911, the ALICO building’s 22 floors made it the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

At one point the building was entirely self-sufficient, with an electrical generator, oil wells across the Bosque River to fuel its heating system, and an Artesian well for water. The bottom floors were damaged in 1953 during a tornado that devastated most of downtown Waco.

The building is still in use and still the tallest building in Waco.

McLennan County Courthouse

Waco is the county seat of McLennan County.

The McLennan County Courthouse was built in 1901 by architect J. Reily Gordon. The Beaux-Arts style building is said to have been inspired by St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.

On top of the courthouse’s dome is a small lantern, crowned by a statue of Themis, the Greek goddess of divine law and justice. The statue is holding the scales of Justice in her left hand and the hilt of a sword in her right. The dome is also ringed by eight eagles.

The roof and dome have recently gone through restoration giving Themis the blade of her sword back.

Dr Pepper Museum

Waco’s most famous export product was created at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store.

Dr Pepper, created in 1885, pre-dates Coca-Cola by about a year. Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist working at Morrison’s store, is believed to be the inventor of the now famous drink.

The Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became Dr Pepper Company, is now the home of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute. The museum houses all sorts of soft drink memorabilia and the Institute provides a hands-on lab where students learn how to create and market their own beverages.

If you were wondering, Dr Pepper dropped the “.” in the 1950’s. The 1906 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the “Home of Dr Pepper.”

Pat Neff Hall

Waco was known as the “Athens on the Brazos” during the 1880s because it was fast becoming the hub of education in the Lone Star State.

In 1881, Paul Quinn College moved to Waco from Austin; AddRand College (later changed its name to Texas Christian University) moved to Waco in 1895, in 1882, a city tax was levied to fund the Waco Public Schools; and in 1886 Waco University and Baylor University consolidated locations in Waco.

Waco is still home to McLennan Community College, a Texas State Technical College, and Baylor University. Baylor was founded in 1845 and is the state’s oldest continually operating private university. Baylor moved from Independence, Texas in 1885.

Baylor has actually been a university longer than Texas has been a state.

Pat Neff Hall was opened in 1939 and is home to the Administrative Offices, as well as the McLane Carillon. The instrument was built by the Paccard Bell Foundry of Annecy, France. The weight of the bells ranges from 29 pounds to 4,370 pounds, with a total weight of more than 22 tons.

Judge R.E. Baylor

Rufus C. Burleson

Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, a native of Kentucky, moved to Texas where he co-founded Baylor University with the Reverend William Tryon and Reverend James Huckins, the first Baptist missionary to Texas. He was elected judge of the district and supreme courts of the Republic of Texas and was a member of the convention that framed the State constitution of Texas in 1845.

Rufus C. Burleson was the second president of Baylor.

He was accused by William Cowper Brann of fathering a child with a young Brazilian girl who lived with the Burlesons, eventually leading to his demotion to President Emeritus in 1897 despite being found innocent by a grand jury. The building behind his statue is part of the Burleson Quadrangle, the first common area to the students at the Waco campus.

Founders Mall

Just behind Old Main, and the R.E. Baylor Statue, is Founders Mall and this column monument.

According to Michael White’s History of Baylor University 1845-1861, the memorial is built of stones from Tyron Hall, a building from Baylor’s original Independence campus about 80 miles west of Houston. The memorial also contains pieces of Old Main, Carroll Science Building, Alexander Residence Hall and Pat Neff Hall.

Buried beneath the monument is a time capsule from 1945, when the stones were dedicated for Baylor’s centennial celebration.

RGIII

A visit to Baylor wouldn’t be complete without paying homage to a young man who brought a new spark to are generally less-than-stellar athletics program (with apologies to women’s basketball, this is Texas and football is king.)

Robert Griffin III led our football program to our first bowl game in years, our first bowl win in years, and then he went ahead and won the Heisman Trophy for excellence in football this year.

Lake Waco Dam

He did all of this while completing his Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master in Communications. He was the second overall pick in the NFL draft and, much to my chagrin, will be playing for the Washington Redskins. He kicked off “The Year of the Bear” that had us set an NCAA record for combined wins in football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball and saw all of our teams appearing in post-season play. Needless to say, I’m a touch excited.

There is much more to Waco than I could ever cover in 12 photos.

Waco has been a great place to grow up. It has just the right mix of activities and its proximity to larger cities provides one with outlets for just about everything else without having to deal with traffic. We have access to sports, great golf courses, good food and plenty of other activities.

See more of Mike on the web:

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

Day 1: Totness, England

Day three of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Tuesday, with Shaima M and Geneva, Switzerland.

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Totnes, England

Fore Street and East Gate Arch (photo by Becca Gulliver)

Note: This is the first in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday.

Second note: Becca had some issues with her camera for this project and only has seven of 12 images for her town.

By Becca Gulliver

This was a challenge in in every sense of the word.

Devon has had one of the wettest, dullest summers I can remember. Then add to that a Holga that was accidentally drop-kicked across a car park, causing the back to fly off, the film to pop out and land in a coiled heap about a foot away.

I had to kiss goodbye to that roll of Ilford Delta. Whilst scooping up my belongings from the parking bay, it didn’t even occur to me that the impromptu game of football could have caused any damage.

North Gate (photo by Becca Gulliver)

This was something that wouldn’t come to light until both films were developed. My Holga now appears to be permanently stuck in B mode (bulb) and if you shake it you can hear something rattling inside.

At least I can still use it for low-light shooting. Anyway, enough about that.

Most of my shots were taken in the Totnes area of South Devon (England), using a Holga 120gn, Ilford Delta 400 and Fuji Superia X-tra 400.

Here I stand and here I rest. And this town shall be called Totnes. – Brutus of Troy

Totnes is a small market town, with a population of between 7,000 – 8,000 people.

Situated inland within a nationally recognized Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it is a short drive to some fantastic beaches (the nearest beach is a 15-minutes drive).

Bridgetown (photo by Becca Gulliver)

If you go further inland, you have the wide expanse of wilderness known as Dartmoor to explore.

Central Totnes is built on a hill, which has the River Dart at the bottom and the Totnes Castle at the top.

On the other side of the river you have the suburb of Bridgetown, which is where I live.

Totnes is very old. The first recorded history of the town was in 907 AD, which makes it the second oldest borough in England.

Because of the age of the of the town, the architecture is varied and even boasts one of the oldest Norman Motte and Bailey castles, a medieval church and Tudor buildings alongside more modern offerings of the 18th, and subsequent centuries.

River Dart and Totnes Bridge (photo by Becca Gulliver)

During the 12th century it was an important and thriving market town and in very prosperous times minted it’s own coins.

Nowadays, it probably comes across as quite sleepy at times, but Totnes everything but. It certainly seems to have more than it’s fair share of artists (painters, potters, woodwork, metal work, fine art printing and photography, just to mention a few) and musicians.

The music scene is pretty varied with live bands and electronic music nights during most weekends. We probably have the largest DJs per capita than anywhere else.

Dartington Hall (photo by Becca Gulliver)

If music and art isn’t your thing then we also have a lot of people into alternative lifestyles and alternative medicines.

I would imagine it’s possible to find treatments from most corners of the world here.

Until recently we also had an internationally known art college, which unfortunately was relocated despite protests from the locals.

There is so much one could say about Totnes, but for more information about the town, type in Totnes in Google.

Other images from Becca’s series on her town are below:

Totnes Castle.

Path.

Becca on the web:

Day two of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Monday, with Mike Davis and Waco, Texas.