Articles
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Places to Go for Traveling Lomographers: Porto Venere
written by sirio174 on 2018-08-28 #placesPorto Venere is one of the most beautiful sea towns in the North of Italy with an abundance in history and culture — and it is a perfect destination for a weekend in every season of the year.
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You Are Invited to the First Lomowalk in Como!
written by sirio174 on 2018-02-13 #newsTo celebrate #25YearsOfLomography, longtime Lomographer @sirio174 will organize the first ever Lomowalk in Como. Learn how you could take part in this special event.
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Cameras in Depth: Handling a Medium Format Camera
written by sirio174 on 2017-12-18 #gearAfter some articles on ergonomics of 35mm cameras, this one is dedicated to medium format ones, especially about some wonderful Lomo cameras, from the fully manual Lubitel to the fully automatic Lomo LC-A 120.
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A Tribute to 25 Years of Lomography with my LomoWall in Como
written by sirio174 on 2017-11-12 #culture #placesIn this article, I'll share with you the construction of my Lomowall on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Lomography. It was installed in the old town of my city Como, in the North of Italy.
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Quick Tipster: A Scratchproof Protection for your Lomo LC-A+
written by sirio174 on 2017-01-07 #tutorialsIn this short article (dedicated to everyone who wears eyeglasses with plastic lenses), I suggest a simple trick to avoid the risk of scratching your eyeglass lenses when using a Lomo LC-A, LC-A+ or an LC-Wide camera.
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Happenings on Film: The Refugees Emergency in Como
written by sirio174 on 2016-12-14 #culture #people #placesIn this article I'll show a dramatic and serious emergency in my city Como, near the border with Switzerland: the arrival of hundreds of refugees and migrants from Africa and Middle East, from their first camp near the railway station to the final accommodation in a better place.
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Cameras in Depth (Handling an SLR Camera)
written by sirio174 on 2016-12-06 #gearIn this article I write about the ergonomics of some popular SLR cameras, from the more basic to the most sophisticated professional ones, in order to help you to choose the best model for your needs.
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Summer Hotspots: Poland
written by sirio174 on 2016-11-14 #placesThrough these photographs taken with my little Olympus XA2, I'll tour you around three important cities in Poland that I visited last summer: Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk, all rich in history, art, and architecture. Take a look!
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Cameras in Depth: Handling a Rangefinder Camera
written by sirio174 on 2016-08-15 #gearAfter my previous article dedicated to the comparison between pocket cameras, I'll write here about the ergonomics of some popular rangefinder cameras that I use, from the basic Soviet models to the finest Japanese cameras.
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Happenings on Film: the Opening of the Jubilee of Mercy in Como
written by sirio174 on 2016-07-16 #newsAmong the many public events of last year's winter in my hometown Como (that I documented with my albums and with my articles), I think that the most important was the opening ceremony of the jubilee proclaimed by Pope Francis. I photographed everything with my beloved Canon AV-1. Take a look!
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Cameras in Depth: SLR Viewfinders
written by sirio174 on 2016-05-18 #gearThis article compares the viewfinder of some my SLR cameras: in fact, the photographic composition depends a lot on what we see in the viewfinder. After the first article dedicated to the plain glass viewfinder, this is the time to compare different SLR viewfinders and focusing screens.
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Cameras in Depth: Plain Glass Viewfinders
written by sirio174 on 2016-05-11 #gearThis article, the beginning of a new series, is dedicated to the comparison of some cameras with a plain glass viewfinder, without focusing aids, except the possible presence of a rangefinder. As you can discover here, our composition depends on the selected viewfinder. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: Santa Barbara 2015 (A Tribute to Bruce Davidson)
written by sirio174 on 2016-02-06This article is dedicated to Bruce Davidson, one of the most important American documentary photographers and a leading figure of the Magnum agency. Recalling his photos of the Worcester Fire Department in 1999, I'll show you my coverage of Como Fire Department's public demonstration, an annual event commemorating St. Barbara.
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A Salute to the Masters: Police Games (A Tribute to Leonard Freed)
written by sirio174 on 2016-01-30This article is dedicated to Leonard Freed's important reportage of the difficult and dangerous daily work of New York policemen, published in his 1980 book. Here I'll show you photos of public games organized by the various police forces of my hometown Como during last year's Christmas festivities. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: A Subbuteo Tournament (A Tribute to Dennis Oulds)
written by sirio174 on 2016-01-23This article is dedicated to the British photojournalist and sport photographer Dennis Oulds, and to one of my favorite home games, Subbuteo Table Football. Here are some photos I took during a local tournament in Como. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: The Enchanted Forest (A Tribute to Ugo Mulas)
written by sirio174 on 2016-01-16This article is dedicated to the Italian street photographer and portraitist Ugo Mulas who masterfully documented the miniature circus of the great sculptor Alexander Calder. To write this tribute I documented a recent Christmas event in my city Como, a wonderful exhibition of vintage toys in a forest of snow-covered pines. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: Ice Skating (A Tribute to Monte Fresco)
written by sirio174 on 2016-01-09This article is dedicated to one of the finest British sport photographers, Monte Fresco. In his 30 years of reportage for the Daily Mirror, he took some of the most iconic photographs in sporting history. He covered football, tennis, and boxing. But it is his ice skating pictures that I am most fascinated with. Using my own lens, I give him a modern tribute.
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A Salute to the Masters: The Temple Bar (A Tribute to Roger Mayne)
written by sirio174 on 2015-12-19This is a tribute to a great English social street photographer, Roger Mayne, who passed away last year. His masterfully documented photographs of the working class life on the streets of London after World War II are poetic and humanitarian.
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A Salute to the Masters: Hope and Solidarity (A Tribute to Cornell Capa)
written by sirio174 on 2015-12-05This article is dedicated to the Hungarian-American photographer Cornell Capa, brother of the famous Magnum reporter Robert, and to his great humanitarian and social contributions in educating and changing the world. Capa's photos depict genuine human feelings, hope, and solidarity, and avoid commercial cynicism or disinterested formalism. I write this tribute facing a delicate argument: mental disability.
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A Salute to the Masters: Antaryami (A Tribute to Marc Riboud)
written by sirio174 on 2015-11-28This article is a tribute to a great French photographer, Marc Riboud, as well as to the inimitable interpreter of the "Art of Silence" and arguably the greatest mime ever, Marcel Marceau.
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A Salute to the Masters: Contortionist (A Tribute to Mary Ellen Mark)
written by sirio174 on 2015-11-21This article is dedicated to a great American photographer who spent many years of her career documenting the lives of the most vulnerable people, touching on themes like loneliness, homosexuality, drug addiction, and civil right struggles: Mary Ellen Mark, who passed away in May this year.
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A Salute to the Masters: EXPO 2015 (A Tribute to René Burri)
written by sirio174 on 2015-11-14At the end of October last year, René Burri, a great master of photography of the last century, passed away. As a tribute to him, I would like to show you some photos that I took last month at EXPO 2015 in Milan, which was inspired by his series featuring the world's fairs held in Osaka, Okinawa, and Montreal. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: Bare Soles in Como (A Tribute to Christopher Anderson)
written by sirio174 on 2015-11-07The young artist and Magnum photographer Christopher Anderson published on his agency's website an awesome photo series, one of the images in it a great symbol of freedom, joy of living outdoors, purity, innocence, candor, and girlhood: the bare sole of a female lifted up, taken at the Central Park in New York. Like many other great Magnum photographers, Anderson explored this interesting body part through photographs. For this tribute, I chose a series of bare feet images I took along the promenade of the lake Como. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: Gypsies in Como (A Tribute to Josef Koudelka)
written by sirio174 on 2015-10-31This article is dedicated to the Czech photographer, Josef Koudelka, and his book, "Gypsies," a classic in documentary photography. "Gypsies" contains a series of images Koudelka took between 1962 and 1971 in the former Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, France, and Spain. Here, he was able to masterfully depict the simplicity of the gypsy lifestyle, never presenting their situation as a social problem but instead showing their lives as a mix of joyfulness and wonder, sorrow and mystery.
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The Phobia Post: Fear of Solitude
written by sirio174 on 2015-10-17It is possible to fear solitude. But of its many forms, I only fear the kind that goes unnoticed, the one you cannot share with other people. Photography, with its end goal of being seen, helps ease this kind of solitude.
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A Salute to the Masters: Matera in Black and White (A Tribute to Pepi Merisio)
written by sirio174 on 2015-10-07Some months ago the wonderful city of Matera, chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2019, hosted an exhibit featuring the works of an important Italian social photographer: Pepi Merisio, who had also donated all photos shown to the local public library. To pay homage to this great artist, I have selected a series of photos that I took in this place last summer. Take a look!
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Summer Hotspots: My Holiday in a Camping Beach
written by sirio174 on 2015-08-28Last month, I went to a camping site lined by stretches of water and surrounded by a pine forest. I had vast spaces for leisure as there were only a handful people about.
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A Salute to the Masters: Perfect Imperfections (A Tribute to Christopher Williams)
written by sirio174 on 2015-08-22This article is dedicated to a very unconventional photographer, the Los Angeles-born conceptual artist Christoper Williams. With his two recent books, "The Production Line of Happiness" and "Printed in Germany," he invites us to reflect about how contemporary aesthetic conventions are able to influence our understanding of reality.
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A Salute to the Masters: Lake Como from a Seaplane (A Tribute to Yann Arthus-Bertrand)
written by sirio174 on 2015-08-15 #videosThis article is a tribute to Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the French environmental photographer known worldwide for his aerial photography and environmental reportage. Over the years, this photographer has built a rich portfolio featuring the most beautiful landscapes in the world—including my wonderful Lake Como—taken from helicopters or balloons. Take a look!
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Concert Photography Tips: Low ISO Film at Night
written by sirio174 on 2015-08-10 #gear #tutorialsThis tipster by Community Member sirio174 will teach you how to shoot in analogue during evening events.
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A Salute to the Masters: Swing Festival in Como (A Tribute to Alexey Brodovitch)
written by sirio174 on 2015-08-08This year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of one of the most influential photography books ever, "Ballet" by the photographer, art director, and graphic designer Alexey Brodovitch. Brodovitch took a series of photos of classical dance in a very unconventional way, using very slow exposure times, trying to catch the true essence of Russian ballets. For this article, I took a series of photos at the Swing Crash Festival in my city, Como, held in June 2015.
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Happenings on Film: Graffiti Contest for Expo 2015
written by sirio174 on 2015-07-31On the last Saturday of July, the old district of Borgo Vico hosted an art and music festival. There was also a graffiti contest, and the winner will exhibit his work at the Como Business Center for Expo 2015. I used my Zorki 4 loaded with an Ilford FP4+ film to document the event. I focused on the young artists who, amid the swirl of activity, had to concentrate on their large-scale pieces.
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Happenings on Film: The White Night of Sport 2015
written by sirio174 on 2015-07-12A few weeks ago Como hosted a festival called La Notte Bianca dello Sport from afternoon until midnight. In the late evening I documented some of the activities which were held simultaneously throughout the whole town. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: D-Day in Como? (A Tribute to Robert Capa)
written by sirio174 on 2015-07-04This article is dedicated to one of the most important masters of photography, Robert Capa. Capa is well known for his photos of war, from the famous image of the Republican Spanish soldier collapsing backwards after being fatally shot to his images taken in Indochina. He was also a co-founder of the famous Magnum Photo Agency, the first cooperative agency for freelance photographers worldwide. For this article, I took advantage of a rare event held in my city, Como, some weeks ago: a military drill for civil protection purposes.
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Happenings on Film: Yoga for Africa 2015
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-28In this article I will tell you about a public charity event: a power yoga session coupled with a photographic exhibition. I documented all the smiles and friendly people with my Praktica camera.
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A Salute to the Masters: The Festival of San Bartolomeo (A Tribute to Ferdinando Scianna)
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-27This article is a tribute to the great Italian photographer Ferdinando Scianna, a member of the Magnum Photo Agency, and to his book, "Religious Festival in Sicily," which won the 1966 Nadar Prize. In this article I'll show you a series of photos taken at a religious festival in a small village in the north of Italy, organized by a group of immigrants from the southern region of the country. Take a look!
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Happenings on Film: The Lake Como Expo Night 2015
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-22 #newsThis article is the first one that I want to dedicate to the Expo 2015. A month ago, my city Como hosted a night spectacular preceding the opening of the Universal Exposition in Milan. With my Praktica and color film, I documented this joyful, artistic event.
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A Salute to the Masters: R.I.P. (A Tribute to George Krause)
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-20This article is dedicated to the multifaceted American photographer George Krause and to his series depicting funeral monuments realized between 1962 and 1963. I was able to know about this series thanks to an important essay on photography written by former Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Director of Photography, John Szarkowski. For this tribute, I loaded my trusty Praktica camera with a roll of Ilford film and took a series of photos in the Monumental Cemetery in my city, Como. Take a look!
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My Best LC-A and LC-A+ Photos Ever
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-15 #gearHappy Birthday, Lomo LC-A! This little camera and I are almost inseparable. As a tribute, I'll show you my ten favorite photos taken with this little jewel. Take a look!
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A Salute to the Masters: Rugby (A Tribute to Robert Doisneau)
written by sirio174 on 2015-06-06This is a tribute to one of the most famous French social and street photographers, Robert Doisneau. During his life he was able to capture many little moments of everyday Parisian life with humanity and grace. His photos, full of poetry and humor, tell the ordinary life in the suburbs of the big French capital, away from the richest central areas of the city. Read more after the jump!
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A Salute to the Masters: Paestum (A Tribute to Serge Moulinier)
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-23This article is dedicated to Serge Moulinier, a largely unknown French photographer who won one of the most important prizes in France with a book on Greek architecture. Strangely, little information can be found on the Internet about this great photographer whose work had also been published in an important essay written by the famous John Szarkowski, former Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
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Travel Stories: The Murals of Belfast
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-20 #placesThis article is about the Northern Ireland capital Belfast, its narrow streets and colorful murals. This port city will amaze you!
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A Salute to the Masters: The Mediterranean Sea (A Tribute to Édouard Boubat)
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-16This article is a tribute to an important street photographer, Edouard Boubat. His pictures are characterized by great poetic touch, strong social sensitivity, and utmost respect for people and places. Inspired by a book which contains Boubat's photos taken in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, I pay homage by showcasing some of my photos taken within the same geographic area.
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A Salute to the Masters: Skateboarding in Como (A Tribute to Bill Eppridge)
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-09This article is written as a tribute to a great American photojournalist in occasion of the 50th anniversary of his reportage on LIFE Magazine about the skateboarding fever that had infected so many American boys in the '60s. A joyful fever, in the streets as in the public parks.
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Perfect Combination for a Hazy Day: Lomo LC-A and a Pushed Ilford HP5+
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-06 #gearIn this article, I'll show you how the Lomo LC-A loaded with the versatile Ilford HP5+ can make the most out of a hazy morning. To capture the whirlwind of a bicycle race, I pushed the film to ISO 800. The legendary Minitar 1 lens and this classic Ilford film are a perfect combination if you love black and white photos.
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A Salute to the Masters: Barkers (A Tribute to Jack Delano)
written by sirio174 on 2015-05-02This is tribute to the Farm Security Administration photographer, Jack Delano, and his photographic series dedicated to barkers. For this article, I chose a series of photos I took this year at the traditional Easter Fair in my city, Como, using a classic rangefinder camera loaded with a roll of black and white film.
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A Salute to the Masters: Judo (A Tribute to Sabine Weiss)
written by sirio174 on 2015-04-18This article is a tribute to the street and humanist photographer Sabine Weiss. Considered a living legend in street photography, she likes to photograph daily lives of people, trying to capture the emotions she recognizes around her. Weiss like to photograph people of all ages but she especially loves to take photos of children, masterfully immortalizing their spontaneous gestures and emotions. For this article, I was inspired by one of her rare sports photos of some children practicing judo. Do you want to know more about this great artist? Well, read on!
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'Aniki-Bòbò': A Tribute to Manoel De Oliveira
written by sirio174 on 2015-04-08This article is a tribute to the great Portuguese film director Manoel de Oliveira, who died last April 2. With an old Praktica loaded with a roll of black and white film, I captured so enthusiastically his city Oporto (Porto) with its famous Ribeira district, the most characteristic of the Lusitanian town. It was here that more than 70 years ago, Manoel De Oliveira created a timeless masterpiece: "Aniki-Bòbò"!
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Fresh from My Darkroom: Eclipse 2015 in Como
written by sirio174 on 2015-04-05This article is a sad description on how an astronomical event so important passed in almost total indifference to most people in my city. This eclipse of happiness, the eclipse of curiosity -- this is much more dangerous than the dreaded astronomical phenomenon by ancient people!
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A Salute to the Masters: Como by Bike (A Tribute to Mario De Biasi)
written by sirio174 on 2015-04-04This article is a tribute to the Italian photojournalist Mario de Biasi and his wonderful book "Five Continents by Bike," a pretty series of street photographs showing people riding bicycles from all five continents. He is considered one of the masters of 20th century Italian photojournalism.
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