From the Archives: Instant Photography Tips & Creative Hacks
6The Lomography Online Magazine has a rich archive of articles. With so much information available sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. Here, we have curated a list of our favorite articles highlighting the creative possibilities of instant photography, and the multitude of ways you can immerse yourself in the medium (all with Lomography Instant cameras!).
Choose your own adventure and build your instant photography character by exploring these 12 articles that cover experimentations and personalization (of instant cameras and your instant photography practice) ranging from (1) customizing the instant photographs, (2) experimenting with instant film soups, (3) testing alternative ways to take photographs on the instant medium, and (4) layering various images with multiple exposures.
Customization
1. Creative Ways to Curate Your Ideas and Memories with Film Prints
The fun part about working with Instant film is that you instantly have a photographic print within 90 seconds – an instant photograph that is wholly yours. See a few of the many ways you can personalize and integrate these instant photographs into your everyday life through scrapbooking, zine-making, and more. Tap into your creativity and go further by being in touch with your prints through writing, scribbling, and even stitching the photos together!
2. Artistic Arrangements with Instants by Deniz Berkin
Lomographer Deniz Berkin (@mrlostsoul) shares his dreamy and nostalgia-inducing instant photographs using the Lomo'Instant Automat and Diana Instant Square. View how you can also incorporate a variety of natural and modern elements into your photographs by taking on a more conceptual approach to your photography practice. Don’t be afraid to go deeper into the concept and craft abstract images that ring true to storylike narratives with the help of the built-in features such as multiple exposure and more.
Cameras used: Lomo'Instant Automat and Diana Instant Square Camera
3. Hong Kong Tattoo Artist Mirmanda's Creations with the Lomo'Instant Automat Glass
Hong Kong tattoo artist – Mirmanda – chats with Lomography about all things print and ink! Read the interview and learn more about how these two practices can add a unique layer to one’s approach to instant photography. Using ink to transcend and extend beyond the reach of the four corners of an instant photograph, Mirmanda shows us how we can leave an imprint in analogue images that have the capability and hopes of living much longer than we had thought possible.
Camera used: Lomo'Instant Automat Glass
4. Tipster: Upcycle Your Images and Enhance Old Instax
Wondering how else you can both be resourceful and repurpose your instant photographs in a fun and simple way? Why not consider grabbing some colored (and even metallic!) markers and personalizing the corners and borders of your instant photographs? Feel free to add as much personality, character, and color into your photographs by way of pen and paper — leaving doodles, notes, and lines from personal anecdotes all around the image if it feels fit!
5. Don’t forget to have fun! Clarissa Veronica Customizes the Lomo'Instant Automat Bora Bora
Let this artist interview be a reminder that you can also customize your own Lomography Instant camera! Take a page from Clarissa Veronica’s notebook and see how she utilizes neon-colored markers to add some fun and flair to her Lomo’Instant Automat Bora Bora.
Camera used: Lomo’Instant Automat Camera Bora Bora Edition
Film Soup and Chemical Manipulation
1. 5+1: A Chromatic Instax Film Soup by Benoit Pernuit
Lomographer Benoit Pernuit (@benoitp) jots down notes and insights from his film soup experience with his own set of instant photographs. Using hot water, bleach, lemon, alcohol, and tea, see just how much you can manipulate your images and stretch the dimension of instant photography even after the photograph has been taken.
Camera used: Lomo’Instant Square Glass Camera
Not too familiar with film soups just yet? Head on over to the Lomo School and learn more about Film Soups and more!
2. Tipster: Bleaching Instax Film
It's a big day for instant photographs you may have taken in the past that didn’t turn out in the way you had hoped: either blank, extremely underexposed, or just by pure mistake. If you’re willing to have them given a new life a la film soup and bleaching, then this tipster article is for you! Lomography writer @eparrino experiments with a stronger substance — specifically bleach — on a couple of her instant photographs: “...we kept experimenting and found that bleach can create patterns on an overexposed frame. This is the perfect tipster to try with all those missed shots lost to the photographer's unexpected dismay.” ( Just remember to be in an extremely well-ventilated area and abide by safety precautions when dealing with toxic substances such as bleach.)
3. Poetry and Polaroid Film Soups – the Lyrical Work of Patty Paine
Poet, photographer, and mixed media artist Patty Paine shares tips on film souping instant images. Using various dyes to manipulate the emulsion such as a quarter cup of salt, lemon juice, and a cup of blueberries, she encourages those who want to explore the realms and depths of one’s imagination to embark on this analogue experimentation journey filled with unexpected results.
Alternative Methods
1. Tipster: Shooting Instax With A Lomo Lubitel 166+ Medium Format Camera
Did you know that it is possible to take an instant photograph without using an instant camera? This tipster covers the Lomo Lubitel 166+’s capabilities and the steps needed to be taken when attempting to practice instant photography with this medium format camera. Important to note the possibility of chemical contamination when testing this out, thus, approach with caution (the article shows a run down of safety steps!).
Cameras used: Lomo Lubitel 166+ and Lomo’Instant Automat Camera
2. Long Exposures and Neon Lights With the Lomo’Instant Square Glass
Draw light trails and create dashing light streaks through long exposure with your instant camera. An approach not usually favored by those who regularly shoot on instant due to the time factor required to pull the vision off, Lomography writer @eparrino’s photos and experience prove that it’s worth the wait. Using the bulb and multiple exposure features found in the Lomo’Instant Square Glass (and all other Lomo’Instant cameras!), @eparrino purposely prolongs the instant camera’s shutter to craft subjects in motion using the fluorescent fairground lights and streetlights present around. See the results in this photo story!
Camera used: Lomo’Instant Square Glass Camera
Multiple Exposure
1. Tipster: Multiple Exposures With the Lomo'Instant Automat Glass and a Splash of Color
See how you can bring the color wheel into your instant photography practice and maximize the color gels to bring out its best results with this tipster featuring the Lomography Vienna team. This tipster is the embodiment of “a lot going on at the moment” in the best way — utilizing the creative tools such as the colored gels matched with the splitzer and an activated multiple exposure tab to make the “realistically impossible,” possible in a photograph (i.e. objects and subjects present in a single photograph multiple times, various colors infused onto each other, etc.).
Camera used: Lomo'Instant Automat Glass
2. Tipster: Multiple Exposures With the Lomo'Instant Automat and Lens Attachments
Building on the previous tipster, explore even more ways to how you can see the world through a series of close-up and wide lenses latched onto an analogue instant camera such as the Lomo’Instant Automat Camera. Highlighting results from the three lens attachments, the tipster encourages fun experimentations through mixing and matching these lenses to create portraits that stand out and landscapes that challenge orientations.
Camera used: Lomo’Instant Automat Camera
What's your favorite instant photography creative hack, tip, or trick you've learned so far? We'd love to hear them! Share them in the comments below!
Head on over to the Instant Photography section at the Lomo School for some quick Q&A's on everything and anything related to Instant Photography.
written by macasaett on 2024-04-26 #gear #experiments #experimental #instant-photography #alternative #instax-film #bleach #customization #film-soup #curation
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