These days everyone is shooting with a digital camera — the new Nikon or Canon, the higher mega pixels, the memory cards, Photoshop this or that. This is the talk of the trade among photographers. Camera companies are ceasing production of many of their film camera bodies and film companies have noticed a decline in sales as well, but all is not lost to the surge of the digital era. Film is not yet dead; there are still legions of purists out there who recognize the nuance, beauty, and depth that cannot be replicated with any computer program.

Among these film users are a growing group of camera enthusiasts who use Toy Cameras. Armed with their Holgas and Dianas, various clones, homemade pinhole cameras, or even a vintage flea market Brownie Hawkeye, these photographers have established a unique niche in photography. Images that are often blurry or obscured, rich with texture and unexpected variation, Toy Camera photography is on the rise.

To showcase the beauty that can be created with these odd little cameras, Kentucky-based photographer, Tread (GoTreadGo), has brought together 30 Toy Camera users for an international event called Toy Polloy. On Friday, November 17, 42 images from thirty artists will be displayed at the Icehouse in Lexington, Kentucky.

Recently I was fortunate enough to interview Tread and a few of the talented photographers who will be featured in Toy Polloy. This is what they had to say about their cameras, their art, and their vision.

Chantal Stone: What is Toy Polloy?

Tread: Toy Polloy is the name for an international photography show featuring work created with Toy Cameras. The term is taken as a play on the phrase "hoi polloi," which is derived from the Greek meaning "the many." The term is used in a more derogatory fashion to mean "the common people." Most artists wish to be anything other than common, so Toy Polloy is that push for the toy camera photo artist to be thought of as uncommon in the current world of digital media.

CS: How did Toy Polloy come about? Where did you get the idea?

Tread: I've been lucky enough to have my Toy Camera-produced shots end up in some good gallery shows: Krappy Kamera at the Soho Photo Gallery, for instance, and Toy Joy in Houston, as part of their FotoFest. The success and professionalism of these events inspired me to try and curate a show similar in scope, but a bit differently here in my neck of the woods, Lexington, Kentucky.