Pamela Klaffke is a 38 year old photographer from Calgary, Alberta. She uses an assortment of toy cameras to create her colourful and often eerie photographs.

Are you solely an artist or do you have another career?

I was a journalist for 15 years; I was one of the founding editors of FFWD, was associate editor at Avenue and was the literary editor at the Calgary herald. I wrote a book about the cultural history of shopping called, Spree, that was published in 2003. the only work I do as a journalist now is as the consumer columnist for cbc radio one’s The Point. Now, I only work as a novelist and photographer. My first novel, Snapped, will be published Jan. 2010, and the second, Every Little Thing, in Jan. 2011.

When and how did you first get into photography?

I worked on and off as a stylist for photo and music videos for many years and was always around photographers. I worked with my photographer friend Clint Adam Smyth (who’s now based in Toronto) on a photography series in the 1990s. he would shoot; I would design the clothes and we would co-art direct. I also produced a lot of fashion shoots when I was an editor, so I think I must have absorbed something by osmosis. After I left journalism, I wanted to do something visual and I really missed the look of film, so I figured I’d start shooting on my own with analogue cameras.

What inspires you?

Old children’s stories, props, costumes, vintage everything.

What is your favourite subject to photograph?

My daughter is great. She’s 7 and loves playing all the different characters I create.

It appears that you use a lot of ‘toy cameras’, how did you first get into this type of photography? What intrigues you about it? Which are your favourite cameras to use?

I was really sick of looking at over produced and digitally manipulated images. It had gotten pretty boring. I missed the look of film and wanted to strip everything down to its most basic, so the toy camera thing seemed a good way to go. I had produced a shoot about 10 years ago for Avenue in which the photographer used a Diana and I was always fascinated by the light leaks and texture and ethereal feel you can get from using the cheapest camera. It’s more of a challenge, too. Not so much of the “fix it after” attitude. Because of the cost of processing, I tend to plan my shots out carefully and shoot as few frames as possible – and I do all my effects in-camera or using alternative processing. As for cameras, I’m a total holga girl. I have 2 medium format cameras and a 35mm, plus all kind of filters and masks and flashes. My favourite is the ring flash for the medium format cameras. I also shoot with other plastic cameras sometimes, like my vivitar ic101 panorama camera and a bunch of no-name “trashcams.” And I use my pentax k-1000 35mm slr quite a bit as well. It’s totally manual and almost indestructible. I use it a lot to shoot miniature animal dioramas.

Is its unpredictability ever frustrating?

Not really. That’s part of the fun. I know my cameras well and can usually predict how it’s going to react with certain film under specific conditions. I’ve been lucky in the sense that any bizarre leaks or damage has worked to my advantage.

You can see more of Pamela’s work on her Flickr or her personal site - pamelaklaffke.com

Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.