Until 1990, when the American company Kodak invented the world’s first digital camera, photography could more properly be considered an art, because the results were much less predictable, the photographers were more demanding, and it was surrounded by an air of magic.
There are several factors at play, such as a kind of alchemy whose results depend exclusively on the skill and patience of the photographer.
- For many.
- This analog technology.
- Which did not allow many corrections and repairs.
- And which required waiting several days for the image to be obtained.
- With surprise.
- After the revealing process.
- Had.
- If not a superior quality.
- At least an undeniable artistic quality.
- Quality.
- Because of the tone of naturalness and spontaneity that.
- For many.
- Digital cameras cannot offer.
Today the concept of lomography, a movement that calls for the return of the use of Lomo cameras, or even any analog camera, is maintained today without worrying about the rules, framing or perfection of images.
Alone and just the pleasure of clicking “irresponsably” to get everyday and as spontaneous images as possible.
What is lomography?
Lomography is a kind of movement within photography, whose main feature is the use of Lomo cameras by as many people as possible.
The Lomo-Leningradskoye Optikohesckoye Obyedinenie (Leningrad Mechanical Optics Union) cameras are small machines, with very particular characteristics of being cheap technology, compared to others, and that for their practicality and simplicity can be used by anyone, even if they have no in-depth knowledge of photography.
Lomo camera technology belongs to a military equipment manufacturer based in St. Petersburg, Russia, and today it is a kind of myth, highly revered by photography enthusiasts, resulting in the creation of a true fraternity spread around the world: International Lomography. Society.
Its main states are: be fast, don’t worry about the environment to photograph, take advantage of every moment to capture an image, collect your photos, spread this idea of freedom in photography and share with all your discoveries.
Currently, lomography enthusiasts are spread across several countries around the world, such as: Germany, Vietnam, Cuba, Canada, China, Italy, as well as several other countries, including Brazil.
How did the lomography end?
In 1982, even during the famous Cold War, Soviet General Igor Petrowitsch Kornitzky, a trusted man of the country’s defense minister, wanted to create something that would become a symbol of Russia and could also be used by ordinary people to record. The daily life of Soviet families ordered Michail Panfiloff, then in charge of the operations of the Russian factory LOMO-PLC, to create a Russian model of the Japanese chamber Cosina.
Fascinated by Cosina’s technology, which had as its main characteristics the translucent photographic lens and its incredible sensitivity to light, the general demanded that this new Russian model, much smaller in size, but quite resistant and cheap, be mass produced by the company and distributed throughout the country, so in each residence there was a model of this equipment.
This triggered a kind of photographic revolution in the country, where every individual now had the freedom to record Russian life without worrying about the photographic techniques themselves.
Even with the end of production in the mid-1990s, a legion of loin lovers, with almost half a million followers, began to gather constantly, creating what would become known as Lomography; a movement that proposes keeping the flame burning and the ideal of a more artistic photography totally free of rules.
How does lomography work?
The technology behind the Lomo cameras allows it to be more sensitive to the luminosity of the environment, making this luminosity constant and intense, this happens, among other things, by the long exposure of the image, which lasts 30 seconds.
This process of long exposure to brightness, well known in photography, allows a greater amount of light to penetrate through its lenses, which because it is plastic and of incomparable clarity, facilitates recording in colors much brighter and with a feeling of sharpness, which is one of the main features of this style.
A, the result of the “cult” of the way of capturing images from loin cameras, was therefore created to favor a type of natural recording, made according to the occasion, unthinkable and, fundamentally, about family and everyday situations.
The non-use of flash in Lomo cameras, for example, allows more saturated and less artificial colors, making the result more realistic and subverting the logic of photography, which requires technical problems of focus, backlighting, image finish, framing; in addition to other techniques set aside by the philosophy that disseminates the lomography and its followers.
It is considered an analog philosophy, when considering this type of technology more natural, original and artistic, compared to digital technology.
Effects on Lomo cameras
The photographic effects of Lomo cameras have a lot to do with the model and lenses used during the process, do some even produce the effect?Fisheye? DSLR cameras (photos with circular image). Others produce the panoramic effect, where the entire environment is covered in a single capture; as well as differences in tones, edges and blends.
Being plastic glasses, the results are usually more artistic, with vintage, surreal, darkened, enigmatic aspects, etc.
Apps like Instagram, for example, have been inspired by Lomo camera filters to create their effects in photo editing processes.
Models such as Diane, Holga, LC-A, Fish-eye, for example, provide surprising effects, among other things, by the jet lag of each image, the non-use of the flash or viewfinder; often handmade resources that replace the most modern and advanced technologies for capturing photographic images.
These and other characteristics make the lomography a differentiated photographic movement, which is currently gaining ground on the Internet and serves as a refuge for those who see photography as a means of artistic creativity.
The basic rules of lomography
The basic recommendations of the lomography are 10 and can be translated as: Always with your Loin near you, photograph at any time of the day or night, the lomography is part of your life and not only of it, always be close to the target to be photographed, do not think during filming, be fast, do not worry about what you will photograph , the photo is not taken with your eyes, and do not use rules.
This philosophy, transponderable in life, is the basis of lomography, where technology must be at the service of art and photography must be its most authentic expression.
Those who use a Lomo camera for their photographic recordings need to know the extent to which professionalism can interfere with the spontaneity of photography, as well as the extent to which it interferes with the pleasure of photographing.
You must be prepared to be surprised, attentive to unusual situations that for many would go unnoticed; in addition to making greater use of the mechanisms of intuition and emotion to decide when to use the camera.
And, perhaps most importantly, it does not stick to formal concerns about the rules, which should be limited to the basic handling, maintenance and safety of the equipment.
According to the fans of the lomography, in doing so, the results will be really surprising, not only for those who appreciate it, but also for the photographer himself.
The lomania or cult of photography through the Lomo cameras began in the 1990s, in the city of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. Two Viennese friends, walking unpretentiously through the streets of the city, discover a copy of this model in a small electronica. Store.
From there they begin to capture images wherever they are, in a distracted and uncompromising way, and when they return home, a scare! The intensity of the light and the colors combined with the quality of the photos impressed them so much that they quickly began to spread the cult of lomography wherever they passed.
It was not long before the Lomographic Society was established in 1995 to disseminate news and prevent the development of Lomo machine technology; in addition to organizing cultural events with the aim of promoting lomography and through courses and sales of machines that have been held in several countries.
All this euphoria led to the creation of LomoWordArchive, a project to promote the photographic archives of lomographers from different parts of the world, as well as a communication vehicle for lovers of this technology that now loves art around the world.
The trajectory of lomography
Over time, the art made behind the Lomo camera gained the status of international cultural movement, where a new photographic artistic bias, initiated in Vienna, began to influence photography professionals from various parts of the world.
It came to be seen as a philosophy of life, extrapolating its photographic dimension, to promote its ideals of spontaneity and improvisation in all the arts.
One of the main means of survival of the movement was undoubtedly the sale of photographic equipment, many of which were considered rarities, and other releases, in addition to various exhibitions, conferences, courses, cultural activities, events, book editing, etc. , have helped the lomographic movement to perpetuate itself as an idea in professional photography programs.
To these efforts, to maintain the ideal represented by the lomography, is added the involvement of certain cultural segments, such as: music, television, film and, above all, the Internet, claiming that the way to capture images from loin cameras has served as a source of inspiration for some aspects of current photography, mainly from a technical and aesthetic point of view.
For some more radical followers, getting the effects of Lomo camera technology can only be possible by using an original Lomo equipment.
However, there is another aspect of photography that preaches that it is sufficient to stick to the use of analogue equipment to achieve the same effects, since, for these, lomography is a philosophy, a way of acting; therefore, the use of an original Lomo camera is not essential.
According to this reasoning, some computer software technologies, such as Photoshop, have features that promise any photography enthusiast to get the effects of a Lomo camera on their photographic recordings.
In the specific case of Photoshop, the user can use the Gradient Map function, which creates configuration commands, inserts specific colors and shades, overrides the blending mode; resulting in a vintage look, with dark edges, intense colors and a much more realistic look.
Does the Logo Camera app also promise to replicate this effect?Transform a smartphone into a kind of Lomo camera, with action sampler, fisheye functions and a multitude of filters that make images similar to those of Lomography.
For lovers of lomography, its great advantage is the possibility to play with its mechanisms and extract several unique effects.
For example, many manipulate camera filters to create image effects, dark or aged environments, using the back of the film, ensuring more intense red in photos.
They manipulate the CAMERA ISO to increase light input through the lenses. They rotate without looking at the viewfinder, to be surprised by the result of the photos. Photography in motion and without flash; in addition to several other artisanal techniques that transform photography into a kind of experimentation.
Cameras like the LC-A and Diane, for example, allow you to capture photos with fantastic and surreal images, using different types of filters to add more intensity to colors. They use flash-cast plastics for effects. And anything that can, use the technology of an analog camera at the service of art.
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