Newcomer of the Week: shinikov

Our Newcomer of the Week found an awe-inspiring similarity between the art of analogue photography and Arabic calligraphy, two of the things he is completely interested in. Hear it from our passionate newbie from Bulgaria, shinikov!

Name: Atanas (Nasko)
LomoHome: shinikov
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Tell us something about yourself.

I am 34 years old and I work in the IT services industry. People working with bytes seem to show affection for lens. I have a university degree in Arabic language and Islamic history. Besides photography, I am fond of Haribo jellies, Arabic calligraphy and graffiti culture.

How did you find the Community and who/what convinced you to join?

No one had to convince me. In fact, I found the Community while experimenting with my analogue camera several months ago. It is where priceless resources for analogue freaks pours in. Some of them good, some are bad. The community is a crowd of people whose lives are patched through multitude of photos.

As you have read the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography, what rule do you apply in your everyday life?

Take your camera everywhere, of course.
Take more than one camera everywhere.
Take three cameras everywhere.

In this digital age, why still film?

Ah, the great dividing line. I had used several digital cameras before shooting with film. I take photos with every possible equipment (mobile phone, digital point-and-shoot, DSLR) but film brings a unique experience and there’s nothing like it.

As I have recently thought, shooting a few film rolls has taught me more about the way photography works like the element of thinking that film usage enforces, the simplicity of analogue cameras, and the process of using light to make a difference on a photosensitive surface and create only one image out of an endless possibilities.

Film photography is somehow close to Arabic calligraphy. Calligraphers often say that a sheet of paper contains all the written words in the world but you need to make them visible through your reed pen. With film photography, the 36 × 24 mm frame is waiting in the dark for the light to beam through and capture a singular moment out of an endless opportunities. Shooting film takes you one step nearer to such an experience: feeling the mechanical parts moving and hearing the fabulous (now it almost turned into a fetish) click of the SLR mirror and shutter.

In addition to these quality of film photography are the lovely softness of color and the attention to detail one needs to compose a frame. It is a slower and much different process compared to the hurried way of taking thousands of digital photos at once, as if quantity ever brought quality. How can one not like film over digital?

Your favorite analogue camera as of the moment? Why?

I have a Zenit ET, an Olympus Pen EES-2, and the ubiquitous socialist Vilia I never took photos with. Yet what allured me to analogue was actually my Cosina CT-A1. It is absolutely sturdy, handy, non-pretentious, light, and simple. It is a great takeout in my backpack during and after a business day.

What is the Lomography camera you’d want to have someday?

Lomo’Instant or Spinner 360°. I love the idea of having an immediate, non-reproducible photo and a wide stretch of panorama.

Any song or movie you live by?

Bach’s Erbarme dich, mein Gott

*Share your current favorite Lomograph, could be yours or a friend’s. Why is this your favorite?

I like it because of the uniform color of background and the human-like root shape as seen through the shallow depth of field. Also, I like the contrast between the even background and the roughness of root. Are aliens around us or do they grow undergorund?

Any Community member you look up to? If so, why him or her?

robertofiuza

At present, he’s my favourite mainly because of the black and white photos of vast buildings and spacious churches interiors.

What are you looking forward to in our Community?

Network, one thing.
Ideas, another.
Fun, let us not forget. How could we and why?

written by icequeenubia on 2014-10-19 #lifestyle #newcomer-of-the-week