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Yale in Light and Shadow
November/December 2004

Click here for a selection of photographs by Arnold Gold

In 2001, the New Haven Register sent staff photographer Arnold Gold out to take pictures of Yale athletic facilities for its coverage of the university’s Tercentennial. Wanting to try something different, Gold turned to an unusual camera a fellow photographer had given him. Known as a Holga, the $20 camera is made almost entirely of plastic, even the lens. Photographers share tips on how to apply duct tape to the camera’s exterior to try to control its inevitable light leaks. But why bother? “The Holga has a kind of cult following,” says Gold. “It has an old-style, timeless quality to it, especially the black-and-white photographs.”

Gold’s Register assignment has turned into a long-running personal project he calls Yale Portfolios. He has already produced a calendar and posters of his Holga images and hopes to publish them in a book. (More of the pictures can be seen on his website, www.arnoldgold.com.) Gold says that although the photos don’t include people, he wants to convey “a sense of place and humanity” in them.

“Yale has a presence, on both a monumental and a minute scale,” he says. “I have tried in my photographs to capture what I believe is essential and elegant.”  

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