From the get-go, HoldFast’s allegiance lies in this: steadfast dedication to professional photographers and the systems they utilize. Committed to paving the way, HoldFast gear accentuates style while also performing comfortably and efficiently. Responsible for creating a new genre within the industry, we’re changing the way photographers look and feel while doing their best work.
In this series, you’ll hear stories of HoldFast gear and the photographers–the pioneers, the adventurers, the originals–that use them. This is How You HoldFast.
For Aydin Matlabi, his journey as a photographer has been taking place for over a decade. Working mostly in portraiture, Matlabi started with Nikon f3 and developed his own negatives in the bathroom; since then, he’s added a vast variety of digital equipment to his arsenal.
“I work in developing countries and war zones. Photography was a way for me to understand a world that makes no sense. Working in war zones, it is to easy to just see the pain and suffering. With photography, I can try to break away from the traditional visuals and find hope in places where they are in scares demand,” Matlabi shares.
Matlabi works closely with organizations committed to fighting for women and children’s rights. Traveling the world documenting such stories has required Matlabi to have a firm grasp on how powerful photography can be when capturing the human condition.
“Sounds a bit heavy, but I research to find logic and humanity in the face of violence. And so, my life goal has been to bring an understanding to those who struggle to see beyond the horror and adversity of it. Therefore, my art brings forward human struggles, exposes it in full view, and aspires to evoke hope.”
Needing to be able to quick adapt to his surroundings when documenting his subjects under the harshest and sometimes most unpredictable conditions, Matlabi needed gear that could easy travel with him and make his capturing his work easier, not harder. He started out with a harness for double cameras with very little success. “The main problem was that there was not much comfort, it ended up smelling strange after long use and it was seriously ugly,” Matlabi explains. While not always entirely a negative thing, the unsightly gear caused Matlabi to stand out as the photographer for all the wrong reasons, potentially putting up an invisible barrier between himself and his subject, making it difficult to capture stories authentically and in the moment.
Matlabi chose to invest in a HoldFast Money Maker and the style immediately spoke to him. The Black Water Buffalo Money Maker provides comfort and an unprecedented level of durability previously lacking in other gear Matlabi had used before.
“I can lock my camera together in the back and look stylish without anyone knowing I am a photographer. At any moment I can take the pic and just drop the camera as if nothing happened,” says Matlabi. “You can literally use it as repelling device (I do not recommend, but it does work) and feels as if there is nothing on you.”
HoldFast uses real, full grain leathers for all of its leather gear. Like fine boot leather, this means that the more it’s worn, the more it molds to the body for an optimum fit. Matlabi appreciates this fact, citing the leather quality as part of what makes HoldFast gear, and Money Makers specifically, unique.
“You just cannot compare. Call it nostalgic, but the fact that you know it is made by hand, with real leather, it’s like asking the difference between a Prius and a Ferrari. Yeah, they both go from point A to point B. Just one you want to be seen in, with the other, you hide and hope you don’t bump into anyone you know for fear of embarrassment.”
Because Money Makers are designed to allow photographers to carry their gear where it’s most important,–on them–the multi-camera carrying system makes it easier for photographers to navigate their surroundings while seeking to capture their shots when they actually happen. Matlabi has found this to be true.
“There is a amazing freedom to always have access to your cameras on demand. You blend in more easily in your environment. In a strange sense, people do not see you as a photographer when you wear a Money Maker. All the cameras become a fashion accessory. I had Congolese Dandies, called Sapes in The Democratic Republic of Congo, and the epitome of stylishness in their communities, who wanted one just for the style,” Matlabi says.
While continuing to approach with dignity cultural differences amongst his subjects, Matlabi has been able to explore how photography finds the common thread between two parties. “I try to work with my subject, to help them built their stories,” Matlabi says. Such a commitment is the perfect complement for HoldFast, who seeks to change the way stories are told through photography.
Contact Info
Aydin Matlabi
Website(s):
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matlabiaydin
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