I decided my next Death by Holga book project will be a collection of portraits. I will start by taking selfies and photographs of my family. From there I will move to photographers*, friends and co-workers. My end goal will be to entice local and national celebrities to sit for a photo shoot.
Why Death by Holga?
My passion for photography lies with the use of Holga cameras and film. So I will continue to do most, if not all, photographs using a Holga camera. But that will not be the limit to my creativity. I will use many different cameras in my collection including the following:
- Rolleicord V
- Baby Speed Graphic
- NEW Intrepid 4×5 Camera
- Polaroid SX-70
- Kodak Six-20
I’m not looking to take snap shots. I plan on making each sitting a real photo shoot with good lighting and a little patience. Maybe I’ll get an interesting story out of my sitter that would make for nice reading in the book.
Photography and Printmaking
Photography will not be the only art form in Death by Holga: Portraits. I will create several block prints and etchings. Most of these will be from the photographs I take, but some will be collections of celebrities for my Dearly Departed series, a who’s who of celebrities who died in a particular year. And I may not limit my portraits to people. I might photograph a few places and things, so long as they feel like a portrait.
A secondary goal of this book project will be a gallery exhibition. I plan on creating real darkroom enlargements of all the photographs in the book.
Celebrities
I am just now starting my list of local and national celebrities that I would like to photograph. I hope the creative works displayed on this site and others will green light some opportunities. I would love to photograph any of the following:
- George Bush, former President of the United States
- Laura Bush, former First Lady
- Mike Rawlings, Dallas mayor
- Susan Hawk, Dallas district attorney
- John Wiley Price, Dallas county commissioner
- Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks owner
- Troy Aikman, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback
- Roger Staubach, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback
- John McCaa, WFAA Channel 8 news Anchor
- Cynthia Izaguirre, WFAA Channel 8 news anchor
- Bo Roberts and Jim White, Lone Star 92.5 deejays
- Paula Poundstone, comedian
- Willy Nelson, singer
- Kinky Friedman, author
- ZZ Top, band
- Chuck Norris, actor
The above is a wish list. Who I will be able to get is anybody’s guess. If you know anyone on my wish list and get me a contact, I would greatly appreciate the connection.
Publication and Exhibition
Death by Holga: Portraits will be published in 2016 by Dallas Art Press. My goal is to have a gallery showing of the works on display at the same time.
Stay tuned.
* Yes, photographers are closer than friends. These people eat, sleep and breath photography. They share the same passion. They own the same equipment. Photographers are family.