A new rage or maybe a reaction to digital cameras is the rise of lomography. I really like the idea. The notion is to create an image using low tech means. A lot of folks use the toy camera called the Holga but I have a Diana F+ that my wife got me for Christmas.
You load film into these toy cameras, tape them up to reduce light leaks and shoot away. Like anything in art, this is just a tool that is a means to an end. One of my favorite lomo cameras is the iPhone. With the addition of a few apps and the fact the camera itself is pretty week you have a ready to go lomo camera on you at all times. You can get into “the look” of a lomo photo but it has to be more than that. Like anything in art there must be purpose and intent. One of the best photos I’ve done is a shot of my daughter Elizabeth at about age 5 at the Cape Cod National Seashore. I created a large mural and it was all done by using a cheap throw away camera. It isn’t the tool it’s the artist.
Personally I tend to capture an image at the highest quality level possible. Then I spend a lot of time degrading the image until it becomes what I saw when I took the photograph. I like a lot of options and using toy cameras limit your options. One thing they do is hold a bit of seridipitus nature. You never really know what you will get with a lomo camera.
I also have a lovely pin hole camera that is a work of art in itself. This photo today is one of many I’m working on. I have created lots of versions of this photo and the fun is searching for that exact image that you saw when it was created.
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- The Lomography Gallery Store (harrys-travel.com)
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