10 Signs You're a Lomographer
10 29 Share TweetDo onlookers gander at the camera looped around your neck? Does your photographer-friend-with-the-high-end-specs think your photographs are "weird" and your lifestyle to be "confusing"? Do you confuse a lot of people -- in general? And when you try to explain your analogue grind to them, do they often react, "what the hell?"
Congratulations, buddy, there's a high chance you're a Lomographer, and these are the signs and symptoms of being photography's weird wonderchild:
1. You've dipped your toes in cross-processing
Oh boy, oh boy. Being a Lomographer means you've actually tried to use different chemical processes (especially the ones unintended for your film stock) to get these ultra-contrast results. The what-you-see-is-what-you-get photographers are shaking their heads, the Lomo gods tell you that you've done well as a Lomo-being.
2. Intentionally 'destroying' films
You probably realized by now that being a Lomographer is to annoy the system. And you've probably peed, dipped a film in the polluted river, microwaved, cooked, steamed, made soups out of your films as part of your experimental process (just look at all that weird details!). Sometimes you can't help but think you should have taken up chemistry.
3. Hoarding the LomoChrome Purple
Lomographers love weird things. One of the things a Lomographer loved is the Aerochrome, a film intended for military surveillance. Loved it with all the heart, and when Kodak discontinued it, it was as if the end of the surreal world. Fare thee well, pink and purple wonderland. But when the LomoChrome Purple came along, you made sure you wouldn't leave that pink and purple dimension again.
4. Collecting Soviet and novelty cameras
Another sign to distinguish a normal photographer from a Lomographer is his gear. Usually, photographers go for the bang-of-the-buck, or the best-in-the-market. No dilly-dallying. The Lomographer likes to keep his options open, as his experimental lifestyle dictates. Part of the checklist is the obscure Soviet-made cameras and novelty cameras.
5. Knowing how to 'EBS"
You're a Lomographer if you've actually tried EBS or exposing-both-sides. The technique is one of the Lomographic Movement's specialties. Know how to EBS? Check. EBS photos as good as EBS master @hodachrome? Yeah, we'll get there, buddy!
6. Blurry shots and light leaks are favorites
Ho ho ho, you know one's a Lomographer if they have tons of intentionally flawed photographs. Imperfection is a beauty standard here! It's an acquired taste.
7. Excessive multiple-exposure shots
The more the merrier at that. Man Ray and the surrealist photographers salute you for your peculiar endeavors.
8. Going redscale
One day, two friends -- one is a photographer, the other a Lomographer -- went to a film lab to develop their rolls. After an hour or two, they exchanged envelopes and showed each other their results. The photographer scrunched his brows as he saw the bleeding red on his Lomographer friend's photos, eyes burning in passionate scrutiny. "What the hell?!" he exclaims. The Lomographer chuckles and replies, "What? I wear rose-colored glasses."
9. When you recognize these photos:
Enough said.
10. Not caring what anyone thinks
You may be all or some of those qualities listed above, but in essence, a Lomographer is an anarchist of photography. He rattles the system, challenges standards of art, and embraces his individuality. Wait -- what? The 10 Golden Rules of Lomography ?! Pfft, forget the rules.
Hey, there! What are your tell-tale signs of one being a Lomographer?
2017-12-10 #culture #lomographer #lomography #10-signs-you-re-a-lomographer
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