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Trading in a digital SLR camera for a plastic one known as a Holgo, has lead to some interesting photographs for Tomoko Kawabe.
“The results are more interesting,” she said. “I can get unexpected light leaks.”
These light leaks can give her photos an unexpected artistic edge.
A photograph of Spanish Banks hangs on the wall of Octopus studio, a participant in the 13th Anuual Eastside Culture Crawl.
She expected the picture of a sunset at Spanish Banks to come out showing a beautiful red sky, so she was a little disappointed when it came out looking washed out.
“What I looked at through my eyes and what I got from my camera was totally different,” she said. “But then again I found it really interesting… The subtle colours make it really interesting.”
Kawabe is inspired by nature. Deserts in particular, fascinate her, so she often travels to Utah and Arizona to hike and take pictures.
One of her photographs shows a bunch of American flags hung for fallen soldiers in Monument Valley, Utah. “To me it cannot get anymore American than this,” she said.
At first, Kawabe used a digital SLR camera to take pictures, but has been using the Holga camera for a couple of years now. You don’t know what you are going to get until the film is developed, whereas with a digital camera you can see the picture instantly, she said.
Her Holga camera takes 12 pictures with a roll of film, and she is usually happy with four of those.
Kawabe works for a graphic design company called Ubisoft, who rents out a space in the Octopus studios.
She has been doing photography for around eight years.
Kawabe started displaying her photographs at the Eastside Culture Crawl, but then expanded to displaying her crafts during the Crawl as well.
Matthew Freed’s pottery hobby allowed him to break free from the “nine to five grind,” and pursue a more creative occupation.
Freed makes pottery for a living out his studio, Jackson Five, in the basement for his house on Jackson Avenue.
He had his work displayed in his house for the 13th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl yesterday.
He calls his pieces “Art for Everyday Life.”
They are “contemporary, functional, ceramics,” he said.
A lot of people like his ceramics because they are quite masculine compared to other pottery, which tends to be more feminine, he said.
There are a lot of people who also tend to see a Japanese influence, according to Freed.
This isn’t because he travelled there or was otherwise inspired by Japanese culture, but because he likes clean and simple design.
“In this day and age people don’t like clutter,” he said. That’s why he makes sure that the pottery he does is always functional.
Freed is always trying new things. “That’s what keeps it interesting for me,” he said.
He started making pottery 20 years ago when he was 14 years old and his mother signed him up for a pottery class.
He fell in love with it and kept doing it as a hobby, and then seven years ago he picked it up as a fulltime job.
Freed has a masters degree in International Marketing, but “just wasn’t passionate about it.” He wanted to do something more creative, and pottery seemed like a natural progression because it was already part of his life, he said.