Michelle Bates is a Vashon photographer and creative with a multi-faceted artistry, and a history of contribution to the Vashon arts scene. She has used an inexpensive Holga camera to create a body of work that is unusual and dramatic and has taught others about the possibilities available with this lightweight plastic camera. She has also used her professional gear and lighting to capture local performances for UMO, the Moisture Festival, and the Vashon Repertory Theatre, among others.

In this episode, she talks about her photography and what it takes to maintain a professional practice as an artist. 

Michelle has been a photographer since her youth, learning her way around the camera in 1991 through the Maine Photographic Workshops, where she first discovered the Holga.

Since then, she has exhibited in shows in the US and abroad. (See her website for the full list.) She has taught many workshops and has given lectures on plastic and toy cameras to groups all over the US.

Her book Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity was published in 2006 by Focal Press with a second edition in 2010.

Check her out at https://www.michellebates.net/