Join the Lomographers' Print Exchange

Lomographer @systemdevice spearheads a totally analogue project that aims to bring back the lost art of snail mail. Discover how you can participate and connect with fellow Community members from around the world!

There is nothing original about this project. Mail art and print exchange have been out there for decades but there wasn't a one here in our Community. So I said, "Let's do this!"
My pitch was simple: I would print a postcard size photo (4x6 in), stick a stamp to it, write your address and a message on the back, and send it to you. After you received it, it would be your turn to send one. The purpose of this project would be to bring back the analogue type of messaging (in our case through postcards), to print photos (because photography was meant to be on print from the beginning) and to establish stronger bonds between the members of this Lomography Community.

After writing messages about this potential project to more than 200 lomographers, the replies quickly started to arrive in my inbox:

"Sounds like a whole lot of fun!" - @lizkoppert, New Zealand

"I love to send postcards and I find this is a really nice and personal way to do it." - @crazy_little_red_riding_hood, Italy

"I love the idea, it's so friendly-opened, sharing and connecting people. I am in!" - @liveloula, Serbia

The feedback I got was extremely positive and the number of people who joined the project so far exceeded my expectations. 65 participants in just 14 days! In the first message I sent to my fellow lomographers I was trying to explain the project as best as I could so I would persuade them to join this. But, there are awesome people here at Lomography Community who understood the project immediately and described it better than I did.

"This project feels magical to me in the sense that it allows for forging unusual links, interacting with the world differently: we offer a small piece of our being that will meet another being, creating in this way a little spark of sensations. It’s truly magical!" - @helhorn, France

"The world needs more friendship and exchanges these days and it is always nice to have something in my mailbox." - @troch, Canada

"I absolutely like this idea of connecting the enthusiasm for photography and to get in contact in an authentic-analogue way." - @novalee, Germany

After just a few days, I created a list of the lomographers who joined the project and shared this list among them. They immediately started writing each other and exchanging prints.

"I'm checking my mailbox every day, I'm like a child before Christmas." - @jakkr, Czech Republic

"I'm so happy to start this adventure. I hope to see many different postcards from many different backgrounds!" - @ellie97, Italy

Each of us will soon have a pile of postcards printed on different paper, with different stamps, hand writings, postmarks, photos, and stories. We will keep them in an album and browse them once in a while or build our own Lomographers' Print Exchange LomoWall!

The only rules of the Lomographers' Print Exchange are simple:

• The photos have to be personal photos, shot by yourself.
• The photos have to be shot with a film camera (no digital).
• The photos have to be sent as a postcard (not in an envelope) for the aesthetic purpose.

Here are some guidelines:

• As soon as you join and you are included on the list you'll have to write to each other to ask for the delivery address of the postcard.
• Please don't wait for the others to contact you. We are all Lomo-friends here. It's our project. WE make it happen. So don't be shy.
• The project is growing fast, more people are joining everyday, and although it would be extremely nice that everybody would exchange prints with everybody, this is not mandatory. It's your choice whom you'll exchange prints with. You are the only one who knows how to handle your spare time and budget.
• You can exchange as many postcards as you want with one person. There is no limit of cards per year. With time, you'll see that you will exchange one card per year with one, but 10 cards with another. This is an awesome thing about this project: it will build friendships.
• You can print your photos at a local lab or at home with your printer from digital scans. It is not mandatory to print your photos the analog way with an enlarger.

Here is how Lomographers' Print Exchange world map looks like so far. Let's fill this map!

Join us and drop me a line at @systemdevice to include you in the project's members list!

(By joining Lomographers' Print Exchange you agree that your LomoHome will included on the list so the other members could contact you for the print exchange. Don't worry, there will be no personal details on this list, no real name, no address.)

written by systemdevice on 2018-08-24 #lomographers-print-exchange