Cool Girls Shoot Film — Lost In Reverie by Suzi Livingstone (Kodak Tri-X 400)

Lost In Reverie by Suzi Livingstone (Kodak Tri-X 400)

Holga 120 w/ homemade plastic lens

So we received this submission and of course I was blown away by the lens effect, and when I found out it was shot on a homemade lens, I had to pry. Once you are done here, you must go check out Suzi’s stunning portfolio here!! Thanks for sharing Suzi ;)

-eleanorrigby236

1) How and why did you start making your own lenses?

Suzi: I’ve been shooting with Holgas and other plastic cameras for a long time now and have also built up a large collection of vintage medium format cameras. I’ve been experimenting with adding my own lenses to vintage cameras & Holga bodies for a while, I use toy magnifying lenses and loupes. The tinkering began when the shutter broke on my first Holga 120S and I started removing bits from it to use on other Holga’s. Once I started tinkering I couldn’t stop! The images that emerged from these creations conveyed the visual direction I had wanted my work to go in for a while, but couldn’t really achieve with a basic holga.

2) Do you prefer shooting in B&W over color, and if so why?

Suzi: I like both but in the past couple of years I’ve hardly shot any colour, I’ve just been more drawn to B&W for some reason.. it wasn’t a conscious decision but at the moment B&W seems to suit my artistic mood.

3) Any tips for others interested in modifying their plastic cameras?

Suzi: It’s fun to experiment and so easy to get different effects with plastic cameras just by tinkering with a few things, whether it’s adding a new lens or taping up light leaks. Taking apart plastic cameras is also a great way of finding out the working basics of cameras if you want to start making your own from scratch.

4) What other cameras do you shoot with?

Suzi: I have a large collection of vintage medium format cameras (a Great Wall, various Brownies, pinholes and box cameras). The only medium I haven’t really experimented with is polaroid - I want to but I know once I start I will probably be hooked and the expense of polaroid film will probably bankrupt me!

suzilivingstone.com