The Diana Experiment.

In the past couple of months I have been experimenting with what most people would refer to as ‘toy cameras’. The two toys I have been putting to the test from the film department have been the Holga, and the Diana camera’s.

The Diana was first released in the early 60’s by the Great Wall Plastic factory in Hong Kong, and could be wholesaled in the U.S for 50 cents each. So as one can imagine from such a small price tag, the images wouldn’t quite be at the same level of quality as a reasonably priced SLR camera. However, as you will see in the images below, they have a very unique character. Through my own experiments and from looking at other artist’s prints, I have noticed that in many cases, the most dominant colour will effectively wash over the rest of the image. Take for example the image titled ‘John Smith’, the building is made up of red brick, now take note of how the sky is somewhat purple as the red mixes with the blue and grey, take note also of the colour of the footpath. You will no doubt notice also on all these prints of how hazy the images are, with subtle vignetting and very soft focus around the edges. Overall, I am sure you will agree, it paints a very dreamy picture.