Since 1991, Michelle Bates has been a member of Holgas. She's utilized these plastic cameras for everything from fine art to editorial and commercial photography since then. Her work has won multiple accolades and has been featured in numerous web journals, as well as in toy camera exhibitions throughout the world and in numerous periodicals. Her solo exhibitions have taken place in the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles, and Israel. Since 1998, Bates has been instructing toy camera workshops at the Photographic Center Northwest, the Julia Dean Workshops in Los Angeles, and the International Center of Photography in New York.

She also gives guest lectures all across the country, and in 2005 she was a featured speaker at the Society for Photographic Education's Northwest regional conference. Michelle Bates is currently a member of Freestyle Photography Supply's Advisory Council of Photographic Professionals. Michelle Bates is a well-known and respected person in the field, with a long history of making toy camera imagery and involvement in the national and international toy camera communities.