August 5, 2008

Chloe Bach

aeditor@ gmail.com

Arts & Entertainment

 

 

 

Sees STSraL

 

Luke
Simcoe

   

You all seen the photos. Supersaturated colours,
distorted subjects, exaggerated vignettes and candid,
almost serendipitous moments peeking out at us from
inside the pages of pop culture tomes like Vice or Nylon,
or hipster photoblogs like the Cobrasnake and www.
KathylIsYourFriend.com.

The style is instantly recognizable, but the name
is anything but. Known as lomography, the name—which
encompasses both a style and an approach to photography—
—is actually derived from LOMO PLC, an acronym for the
Leningrad Union of Optics and Mechanics, a former Soviet
optics manufacturer.

The official story goes something like this: at the
behest of General Igor Kornitzky, Michail Panfiloff, the
then-head of the state-run LOMO company, took a little
Japanese camera called the Cosina CX-1 and “improved” it
with a little Soviet flair. The goal was to create a camera in
line with socialist ideals: an accessible, inexpensive product
that the proletariat could use to document the progress of
their revolution. The LOMO LC-A was born!

The little camera flourished behind the iron
curtain, and throughout the 1980s, the Soviets—as well
as their socialist comrades in Cuba, Vietnam and East
Germany—happily took snapshots of the dying days
of communism. Sadly, the “people’s camera” could not
compete with the influx of ultra-cheap imports available
from Asia after the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc, and the
LC-A quickly found itself relegated to an obscure existence
on the shelves of retro camera shops.

Enter Matthias Siegel and Wolfgang Stranzinger,
two Austrian students vacationing in Prague shortly after
the fall of the Berlin Wall. Stumbling across an old LC-A at
a Czech camera store, they were fascinated by the camera’s
clunky performance and unique photographs. They quickly
acquired the rights to import the camera for resale outside
Russia, thus kick-starting the lomography movement.

Or so the story goes.

Much of the tale has been swallowed up into the broader
mythology surrounding lomography, so the extent of its
validity is anyone’s guess—some versions of the story

even suggest that a politically nascent Vladmir Putin had
some involvement—but what is certain is that lomography,
with the LC-A in tow, has risen from its humble roots to
attain an almost cult-like status among photographers and
hipsters alike. Since smuggling the first few crates of LC-As
into Austria, Siegel and Stranzinger have built themselves

a toy camera empire based upon unique grassroots and
Internet marketing strategies. Lomo embassies—unique
combinations of (mostly volunteer-based) guerilla marketing
and event planning—have been established in over 60

cities throughout Europe and America, and thousands of
lomographers congregate daily on lomography.com to share
photos and participate in lomographic events. There’s even
a global archive that boasts 32,000 photos from all over the
world!

It’s co-option of the socialist aesthetic and
Amway-style growth plan aside, lomography’s place on the
pedestal of popular culture is undeniable—hell, the company
even offers a red and white version of the plastic, medium-
format Diana camera endorsed by The White Stripes. In
an era where the quest for authenticity is becoming more
and more difficult, lomography’s arresting, unique and lo-fi
images are possessed of a delightfully retro allure. Part of
it stems from the way lomography inverts, or perhaps even
subverts, the usual relationship between photograph and
photographer; the movement offers a refreshing counterpoint
to the shockingly instant world of digital cameras and
seems to present the act of photography—as opposed to the
photograph itself—as the main goal. In fact, rules 8 and 9 of
lomography’s “Golden Rules” are “you don’t have to know
beforehand what is captured on your film,” and “you don’t
have to know it afterwards either.”

Lomography also eschews the traditional notion
of the photographic subject. The serendipitous nature of
lomo cameras and techniques are often enough to make any
picture interesting. “The idea of lomo is that everything is
interesting and worth shooting, because the cameras yield
such interesting results,” says Liad Cohen, a marketing rep
for Lomo in New York.

So what do you need to be a lomographer? Well,
hiding in a small corner of lomography.com is the line: “One
thing is for sure. Nobody really needs any TOOLS. Not
even lomographic ones,” but the rest of the website seems
pretty devoted to selling you on an array of idiosyncratic
toy cameras. The flagship LC-A retails for about $250,
but many models—including the amusing SuperSampler,
which captures four sequential shots in the same photo—
~are available for under $100. And if you need a sign of
lomography’s penetration into the mainstream, you can even
find the popular Holga model at Urban Outfitters for a mere
$70.

While the typical lomo camera is far cheaper than
its digital counterpart, the savings are quickly eaten away
once you factor in the cost of developing film. A roll of the
120mm medium format film favoured by the Diana and
Holga models can cost anywhere from five to 20 dollars, and
developing costs average about one dollar per print. Still,
rediscovering the anticipation that exists between taking a
photograph and developing it is almost worth it.

Sadly, there’s no Lomo embassy here in
Vancouver, but change might be on the horizon. Kids can
be seen cruising around downtown with plastic cameras
strapped to their necks, and more lomo-esque photos of
our city seem to be popping up on Flickr. There’s even
a few message boards on the society’s website where
some Vancouver lomophiles have expressed an interest in
establishing something in the city.

Lomography has also captured the imagination of
some of Vancouver’s photographic intelligentsia, including
Kris Krug, founder of Static Photography. “I think the pics

look cool,” says Krug. “I think the society has a cool scene
going on.”

Thus concludes our brief introductory tour of the
ins and outs of the lomographic movement. Remember:
don’t think, just shoot.

 

_

(The 10 Rules of Lomography:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.

2. Use it anytime - day and night.

3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.

4. Try the shot from the hip.

5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as
possible.

6. Don’t think.

7. Be fast.

8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.

9, Afterwards either.

10. Don’t worry about any rules.

 

 

 

 

S WIN A LOMO CAMERA OF =
YOUR OWN!

Keen on lomography? Coveting those lomo cameras?
Well the OP is giving you the chance to win one

of your own. Just send one of your best photos
(lomographic or otherwise) to arts@theotherpress.ca
for your chance to win. In addition to receieving their
own piece of lomographic goodness, the winners will
have their photos published in the next two issues of

\ the OP!