 |
|
The Lomographic Society International Proudly Presents |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
First off, as this is the last Lomography e-communiqué of the year, may 2006 rock for you – wherever you are. It's been an extraordinarily active year for Lomographers everywhere. Again. And we enjoyed it. So we've compiled a little selection of feedback we have received. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Adam Scott, London |
|
|
|
|
The addiction started when I first took the Holga out the box. I loved the contradiction of it all, professional 120 film in a plastic point-and-hope camera. Hundreds of people around the world are in love with this plastic box and I wanted to get as many images from different people as possible into one book. A simple email to one of the guys at Lomography ended with a Vietnamese dinner in Vienna city centre followed by drinks. Then some more drinks and a final drink to celebrate how much we'd been drinking. The day after I was in a meeting with seven Austrians who, unlike me, were unscathed by the previous night.
I think this is their way of doing things, they charm your socks off, fill your belly with food and drink and the next thing you are leaving Lomoland with a contract you barely remember signing.
That's it, you're in their web, but it's a pretty cool web to be in wouldn't you say? The Holga book started as a dream, it slowly became reality, a job and sometimes a headache. Then again, most things in life are like this, if you decide to follow your dreams and make things happen.
www.adamscottphotography.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Lazar Zalmanov, St. Petersburg |
|
|
|
|
Do svidaniya Compact, our friend! You went further than we could plan.
And the art of photography will never be the same again.
Do svidaniya to the last camera we produced. Gone are the Smena, Sokol Leningrad, too.
And you. Your name resounded for twenty years – and was often honoured.
Your biggest prize was fame, worshiped by the world.
You gave us the gift of Lomography – the people of the world.
We too have gained – the fame and glory and all the love.
You changed our firm – you allowed us to fly, to reach new heights.
Your triumph is that we are known around the globe – Paris, Vienna, Tokyo and so...
We are loved, the firm respected – approached by cherished guests.
Do svidaniya Compact, you our brother! The last camera by LOMO.
You were the Soviet Automat – for millions of loyal hands.
Honest work. With all your might.
Fighting losses – headless of no profit made.
Losses were made, true. But you were a banner to LOMO.
And our firm drew benefit, advantage – it was really so!
Now it's truly over with photography. That has its grounds.
But you, Compact, remain our pride – dead maybe, but unbeaten.
(translated from Russian)
www.lomography.com/lca |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Severin Matusek, Vienna |
|
|
|
|
Vienna is this, Vienna is that. What is Vienna really? Vienna smashes arias and breathes with the common folk, grills sausages and eats falafel, drives rattling coaches and snazzy Segways. It's home and exile, metropolis and allotment club. All this is not only Vienna's history and at the roots of its culture, there's also the architecture of the city. It catches your attention immediately as you cruise the streets, although – having lived here all my life – I don't notice it anymore. Are you still impressed by the historical buildings that surround you in your hometown or do you, like me, walk past them everyday without so much as batting an eyelid? Like any town, Vienna can bore you to tears, make you long for distant shores, it can be incomparably bleak and dreadfully monotonous. But there also are rays of light, moments that turn my perspective a full 180° and allow me to observe the stuff around me from a completely new point of view. So, is that Vienna? Isn't Vienna Vienna? Vienna is Istanbul, Chicago and Taipei. Vienna is however I see Vienna.
www.lomography.com/viennais |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Helen Errington, Newcastle |
|
|
|
|
I enjoyed the daily fix of visuals greatly, incredible submissions to the Lomography Greenspace project; and the events had that special unique lomographic dynamic that keeps diehard Lomographers coming back again & again.
So here I am. Loud music just banging in a huge packed warehouse at the LomoLounge in Valencia, being licked on the cheek by a man with a small beard! Heck at my age (maybe Lomography keeps you young?). That was one hell of a lomographic moment – heart beating faster, adrenaline pumping, wide eyed, with a little nervous smile. It strikes me that meeting Lomographers from all over the world via projects serves as a catalyst, a huge rush mixed with a sense of somehow belonging to an extended family, one moment to another, one shot to the next – transportation is instant, a connective tool, breaching the void to a world beyond the bubbled horizon of day to day life. Lomographers are in the zone – creatively expressing on all levels, in all directions, very personal, with one click of a small button.
And in Valencia again: people with a wild exotic mixture, oozing with radical Enthusiasm; the accents, life stories, ridiculous shoes and haircuts; such diversity, such utter madness, such bar bills! Talking endlessly, moaning, drinking from that same wine bottle on a beach in the afternoon sun amidst much laughter, shooting from all angles, swimming in the sea. We share common denominators, like any members of a group, but what unifies us is the exact same over riding passion: It's a beautiful world, not so ugly at all. A third eye, a lomographic eye opens.
www.lomography.com/greenspace |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Michael Kuhle, New York |
|
|
|
|
Brooklyn's Spring gallery is a collective resource center, brain trust and think tank – the starting point for active participation and stimulating exhibits. Situated under the Manhattan Bridge overpass, this cozy little spot is an absolute Mecca for photography, sculpture, painting, & illustration. In the Summer, I sat down with Anna Cosentino & Steve Butcher, the gallery directors, and hatched a plan.
We were going to organize the vibrant New York Lomography community in a Fisheye-fuelled scavenger hunt. Using Lend-A-Fisheye cams, they were going to venture forth into the city in search of precious images that capture the essence of 'Well Rounded.'
Things were tight. Our deadlines were strict, and we were biting our nails until the last moment. But right before the zero hour, a stream of gorgeous Fisheye images came pouring in. Anna & Steve created an awesome exhibition with the images. A mere few hours later, the NYC Lomo community started pouring in, and the party was on. I chatted with Liad Cohen – the undisputed king of multiple exposures & cross-processing – and helped myself to what was probably several beers too many. I also spoke Japanese with a crew of extremely cute girls – and impressed them with my surprising knowledge of awful Japanese reggae songs. A sea of smiling faces and twinkling eyes reassured all of us that the project was a success. If you find yourself strolling around under the Manhattan Bridge, be sure to pay the Spring Gallery a visit.
www.lomography.com/events |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
