LomoGuru of the Week: playstoppause

His LomoHome is filled with eye-popping, evocative portraits showcasing different facets of youth. Let’s find out more about the creative and passionate ardent shooter Vincent King, or playstoppause, our LomoGuru of the Week!

Name: Vincent King
LomoHome: playstoppause
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands
Number of years as a Lomographer: 2 years
Number of years in the Community: 2 years

Tell us something about yourself.

I’m Vincent but just call me Vince for short. I really love to express my vision of the world through photography. Why photography? Well, every human can be intrigued by something beautiful like a picture. Even better, if that picture can also teach someone a thing or two. If a picture can change the world one pixel at a time or one roll at a time that would be fantastic. As you can see, I’m a bit idealistic, but frankly I’m proud of this side of me.

Aside from being a Lomographer, I’m also very interested in race bikes, longboarding, and youth culture. At the moment, I’m a sophomore at the School of Applied Science in Amsterdam . I’m studying Communication and Multimedia design. To make my life even busier, I got myself a job at Footlocker in Leiden.

Tell us something about your LomoHome’s name.

My LomoHome’s name comes from my tattoo. I have a tattoo above my hip. The symbols are 3 signs that you use for controlling music or video player interfaces. It stands for having control in life. Actually, one of the three symbols got put on in reverse so my tattoo got an ever deeper meaning. In life you like to have control, but sometimes you have to accept that you can’t oversee everything 24/7.

If I had to choose a different LomoHome name it would be something like enigma or Diaphragm. The reason? I like camera part names and I like weird pretentious words. Haha.

Share with us your most memorable experience in the Lomographic Community.

One time, there was this week when I was chosen both as the LomoHome of the Day in the International website and LomoHome of the Week in the Dutch community. That was crazy cool! I was floating on clouds the rest of the month.

Have you actually met people in the Community that you now consider as close friends? If yes, name at least one of them.

I did met a few Lomographers but no close friends, yet.

Do you think you’ll still be taking Lomographs in the next 5 years? Why?

I think I will because taking snapshots using old techniques is just so beautiful. By then digital technology will be so advanced that the craziest effects can be achieved with a blink of an eye, but that will never cope with the craftsmanship of a true classical artist.

What is your favorite Lomo camera and why? Do you have any memorable experiences using this camera?

My favorite Lomo camera is actually the Diana F+. She was my first Lomo camera. I got her from my girlfriend as present for my 20th birthday. This camera inspired me and she totally got me excited to start shooting analog all the way. When I got my Diana F+ I purchased that same month 4 units of a Canon AE-1. Three didn’t work properly and luckily the other one work just perfectly!

Please share with us your favorite Lomographic shot and explain why you love that particular image.

This is what love doing. I shoot intense portraits and this shot is still my best out of my four years of taking photographs. Look at the detail of the picture. It’s shot on medium format film on my Mamiya M645.

Please share a Lomograph you wish you had taken and explain why.

I like her fashion pictures a lot because of its smooth quality.

What’s the best Lomographic or photography advice you think you have given?

If you are trying to get a career in photography, shoot pictures for yourself and nobody else. If you shoot to please others, you will end up sad and stressed out.

If there’s one song or movie that best describes your Lomo life, which one is it and why?

Help Me Lose My Mind by Disclosure feat London Grammar.

The love for something can make you go insane and at the same sane in it’s own way. You can acquire new skills by destroying yourself first, then building yourself up again with a clean slate.

Is there any advice you can give to new analogue shooters?

Discover the analog world one step at a time. Stick to one type of film, one format, or one camera at a time. If you take it all in at once, you’ll end up getting overwhelmed which, in the worse case, may trigger you to stop shooting analog. We don’t want that to happen.

2014-05-04 #lifestyle #lomoguru #lomoguru-of-the-week