I was standing in line at Safeway the other day trying to buy tickets to a concert when the person in front of me started being extremely unpleasant to the cashier/old school photo dude at the counter. The conversation went something like this:
Impolite Hipster: “It’s fucking 120 mm, you douche face. What do you mean you can’t develop that?”
Kind Sales Rep: “Sir, we can’t develop that; we just have to send it out to another lab. You‘ll have to wait a few days and we can call you when we get it back.”
IH: “Fuck this. I’m just gonna ‘DIY’ the mother fucker.”
Needless to say, I was a little confused, not to mention feeling really awful for Average Joe, who’d just been verbally bombarded by some dude in a fedora and a greaser ‘stache.
“Man, that guy was a total prick,” I said.
“Yeah, no worries we get ‘em all the time here,” replied Kind Sales Rep.
I suppose it’s just part of the job having to deal with ‘those’ sorts when you live in Oregon, but it got me thinking. Why would anyone care so much about their precious analog film?
This is the digital age, and unless I’m mistaken, it’s ‘cool’ to be up on new things, like say, digital cameras and Photoshop and really ‘conceptual’ stuff like “stop motion.”
Never mind — we’re talking about hipsters, here. I forgot to throw my rationale out the window.
Lomography is the use of old cameras that were manufactured in the Soviet Union. The cameras produce pictures somewhat resembling Polaroids, with that washed-out feel to them.
There are a lot of people who manipulate the pictures from different lenses, layering, development techniques, etc. That enables the user to render an ‘authentic’ picture without digital manipulation.
“There’s also the element of surprise that’s completely missing from digital manipulation,” Lomography PR rep Nicole Bogatitus said. “With film, you can try out a technique, and you don’t know what you’re going to get until you get back your developed film. That gives an element of excitement that’s missing from today’s digital age.”
This could easily explain my fellow Safeway shopper’s frustration over not being able to have his film developed immediately. His excitement meter was just off the charts.
Bogatitus said Lomography is nothing new. It’s been around since 1992 and even has its own multi-faceted philosophy to go along with it.
“At the very core of Lomography lies the 10 Golden Rules — to guide and disarm you of all the formalities and complications that you know about photography,” according to Lomography.com.
Turns out the central tenant of this philosophy is to forget any formal training you’ve had in photography.
It sounds pretty sketch if you ask me, but my mind’s open. I read on.
Take your camera everywhere you go.
This would explain all the ‘alt-baguettes’ we see everywhere with Diana F and Holga cameras looped around their necks like it’s a Flava Flav video. The next few rules are stupid and boring, but then there’s number five, which caught me completely off guard.
“Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.”
Now, I realize there’s no zoom on these cameras, but for God’s sake, there should at least be a disclaimer here releasing the company from all responsibility pertaining to drunken party hookups and possible date rape. Things get really steamy when they go into detail:
“Try it and you’ll see that the deep affection for your Lomographed subject is strongly reflected in your image. Get in contact with your subject and build up a relationship.”
I’m sure there’s some nice Lomo Bros out there, but if they’re the kind who abide by this philosophy, they’re just looking for the easy hookup.
Bogatitus said that although Lomography is generally about individual interpretation, there are some common threads that bind all Lomo Bros and Baguettes together. “The photos can be characterized by vibrant colors, shadowy framing, surprise effects and a general feeling of spontaneity,” Bogatitus said.
Sounds all fun and flitty — ’til that Lomo Bro gets to close and you have to bop him one in his “fisheye” lens.
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