Winter sports with the Holga – Photography by Flavia Fontana Giusti

Holga aux sports d'hiver 2024-'25 // Madison, WI

It’s no secret that my creativity is going through a slump. It’s not that I lack ideas, that has never been a problem, but bringing them to execution is difficult at the moment. And I’ve decided not to force things, at least not in my day-to-day, I clearly need a time out, and I’m respecting it.

However, I’m still feeling the pull of celebrating firsts. Simple firsts, nothing fancy, like the little things that mark the passing of seasons. And my love affair with the Holga is not over, far from it.

So when it snowed right before Christmas, I took my cross-country skis out for a ride and I grabbed my Holga to document it.

And when the ice-skating season was officially open this weekend at the lagoon near where I live (for the Madison people reading, my lagoon of choice is the Vilas Park one), I took my skates out and I grabbed my Holga to document it.

I went to both winter activities on my own, but the vibes were very different.

Cross-country skiing, the way I do it, is very much a solitary time. I mean, there’s always traces of fellow skiers (or other ramblers), but I’m very much alone on the trails.

Skating, however, is a moment best shared with other skaters. As I mentioned, I went alone, but the ice was full of people: nobody I knew, but families and neighbours who came out, like I did, as soon as they found out the ice was safe. So I was photographing people having fun and this qualifies it as street photography -on the lagoon.

Not pictured: the walker I rely on to skate around. I never said I was good, quite the contrary, I’m a danger to myself on the ice, but I do enjoy doing it 😉

Holga aux sports d'hiver 2024-'25 // Madison, WI

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