Past Festival Events have included...

Jurors Tell All!

Jurors William Franson, Alison Nordstrom, Lou Jones join the STCF organizing committee for discussion about the three STCF 2020 exhibitions.

STCF2018 Juror Jennifer Shaw at the Griffin Museum: Solo Show and Artist Talk

Lo-Fi & Slow Photo Night: Artist Talks in Partnership w/PRC Boston

An opportunity for local photographers to share their own work in an informal and supportive setting. A great night of lively discussion for participants and audience members alike!

Laura Blacklow: Artist Lecture and Book Signing

Presented in partnership with the Photographic Resource Center, Boston

Toy Camera Workshop with Bill Franson

Photographer, educator, and many-time Somerville Toy Camera Festival exhibiting artist Bill Franson has led this hands-on lo-fi photography workshop through the streets of Somerville in multiple Festival years.

Mod Talk: From Flipped Lens to Full-On Frankencamera!

STCF co-organizers Jim and Bonnie hosted this open discussion/demo showing how a few of our favorite lo-fi camera mods were done, and invited attendees to share their own mods.

Lo-Fi Lounge

The Festival's premier social event has been held in various years at our gallery spaces and a local microbrewery.

Walk-in Camera!

STCF partnerned with artist Marian Roth and the Griffin Museum of Photography to create a room-sized camera obscura at the Griffin for the duration of the 2016 Festival. How cool is that?!

Special Exhibition and Artist Talk: Marian Roth

The Griffin Museum hosted a special exhibition of Marian Roth's camera obscura photos, and Roth discussed her work and her experiences converting a wide variety of spaces into walk-in cameras.

Lo-Fi and "Slow" Photography NIGHT at the PRC

We teamed up with Boston's Photographic Resource Center on a "Nights at the PRC" program devoted to lo-fi and slow photography! Hosted by 4-time STCF exhibiting artist Jim Rohan, this event offered an opportunity for local photographers to share their own work in an informal and supportive setting.

B&W Film Processing/Printing at LaPete Labs

Bill LaPete, expert printer and owner of pro lab and rental darkroom LaPete Labs, offered instruction, guidance, and advice to participants who came to this half-or-full day event to process their b&w film and make prints in the darkroom.

STCF Artists' Panel Discussion

Somerville Toy Camera Festival exhibiting artists Mary Kocol, Francine Weiss, Tonee Harbert, and Silke Hase joined us to discuss their work, their interest in toy/lo-fi film photography, and more. Part artists' talk, part panel discussion, this event offered a great opportunity to hear from four artists with different backgrounds and approaches.

Workshop: The Ins & Outs of Holgas and Toy Cameras

Michelle Bates led a two-hour workshop all about toy cameras, including an advanced tour of the Holga's operation, plus hacks and modifications to expand range. Michelle also showed some of her personal collection of toy cameras, and talked about the history of the genre and what's out there now.

Panel Discussion: "One Word: Plastics!" Making Art with Toy Cameras

In this lively discussion, artists Bill Franson, James Rohan, Meg Birnbaum, and Elizabeth Ellenwood talked about the appeal of working with inexpensive plastic cameras and lenses, how they decide to use toy cameras for particular projects, the pleasures and perils of limited exposure controls, and much more.