Mary Kocol Juries The Somerville Toy Camera Festival Exhibition

Somerville Toy Camera Festival is Back!

September 11, 2025
by Elin Spring of What Will You Remember?

Don’t you love playing with toys, especially those that absorb your thoughts and let your imagination soar?  Since 2013, that has been the idea behind the Somerville (MA) Toy Camera Festival (STCF), champions of serendipitous imagery created using low-fidelity toy cameras such as the quirky plastic Holga. More recently, photographers using hands-on alternative processes such as pinhole lenses, photograms, expired film or any method with minimal or no exposure control have been encouraged to submit work to this now biannual event.

Juried this year by Guggenheim Fellow and Somerville-based photographer Mary Kocol, two galleries are exhibiting 80 wild and wonderful photographs by 56 artists who embrace the thrill of chance. This is a world of voracious experimentation and happy accidents! I am sharing some images here that offer delightfully different ways to see buildings, just as an example to whet your appetite. Of course, there is so much more and it is especially rewarding to see these unique pieces in person. But you already know that.

The festival is being held through September 27th, 2025 at the Nave Gallery and Washington Street Gallery in artsy Somerville, MA. Programming includes an online event with juror Mary Kocol and in-person workshops. For all the details, go to: https://www.somervilletoycamera.org/

View the full exhibition, here.