Introducing Matt Scheerer (@mpscheerer) — North America's Honorary LomoHome of August 2024

In celebration of our extremely talented community, the team at Lomography USA have been honoring their favorite active Lomographers on our website for "LomoHome of the Month."

For the month of August we've highlighted community member Matt Scheerer (@mpscheerer) for his documentary work with his family as well as his enthusiastic approach to photography with an array of Lomography cameras!

Matt's Lomographic journey began in 2008 when he took the peephole off of his dorm room door in order to create a DIY fisheye lens for his camera. Fast forward to over a decade later, the birth of his first son rekindled his love for the art of analogue photography, allowing him to be more mindful and present with our mantra of "don't think, just shoot" in mind.

With a love for the Lomo LC-A+ and staunch advocacy for 110 film, Matt believes that if the LC-A+ is the heart of Lomography, its soul is 110 film.

Lomographic Beginnings

I grew up in Vancouver, Washington and settled in Minnesota after going to university here and working my way across the country in college athletics. I am a father of two with our infant or toddler locked onto my hip most of the time. We also have two greyhounds named Joni and Lash. Most of the photos I take are of our family these days, but I do enjoy shooting flowers, colorful scenes wherever they may be, and sports on occasion.

I was looking up photos that were taken with a camera on the Lomography website and I just found myself on a deep dive of searching and scrolling. From there I started following other Lomographers for inspiration and I’ve been fortunate to connect with a few as well. I find myself checking "Photos of the Day" because I am genuinely excited to see what other Lomographers have created. Whether it’s an artsy double exposure, a beautiful landscape or something colorful, it’s fun to pull inspiration from others.

For many years I focused on angles and trying to capture unique photos that way. Aside from making sure the subject was in focus, the subject of the photo was less of a concern. Today, I focus on the subject and try to get the most out of it. For that reason, I love taking portraits of my kiddos now because I can get so much out of the photo.

Living an Analogue Lifestyle

When I shot digital (mostly for sports) I found it easy to fall into the trap of taking hundreds of photos without reviewing them, so by the end of it, I was overwhelmed with photos. I have to be intentional when I shoot film and I think that’s helped me in my approach to daily life.

I may only get eight cracks on a roll of 120 film using my grandmother’s Kodak Target Six-20 so I better make sure I can get the clearest images possible.

I also look at a film as art since it is a physical medium; an SD card just doesn’t have the same feel as a spool of film. I’ve never felt the anticipation of looking at a photo on my computer as I do when opening a pack of prints or a series of scans.

I am the proud owner of the Lomo’Instant Wide, Lomomatic 110, and Lomo LC-A+.

The LC-A+ is so much fun to shoot with and the depth it captures is stunning, especially in snow or fog.

I like to live life in portrait mode with the Instant Wide, adjusting the exposure depending on lighting to get the most out of it.

And the Lomomatic 110 just blows me away. I just finished my third roll in the camera and the results from the first two rolls are everything I love about shooting with 110 film. They have a good punch, solid grain and it brings out the best in Color Tiger 200.

My LC-A+ is always in my work bag. If I go for a walk on a break, my camera is with me. Shooting in low light on ISO 100 and with a flash have yielded amazing results with that camera because they bring the photo to life. Our two year old is busy so the streaks and silhouettes that are captured look incredible to me. I cannot recommend shooting Ilford FP 125 with a flash at ISO 100 enough.

I love portraits of my babies, but my all time favorite photo I've taken is one that I took at the Fargo Red River Farmers Market. It’s not even my best photo. It’s mostly out of focus, but the colors are incredible. The different colors were the whole reason I took the photo because I wanted to test the limits of Tiger 200 with the shot and it performed incredibly. I’m a big fan of Tiger 200 because it’s so versatile. It creates such rich colors but it can also make some beautiful pastels in well lit photos.

Looking to the Future

I hope there’s a resurgence in analogue photography that resembles the vinyl record comeback. There seems to be new films constantly emerging which is such a good sign and I hope that means that more new film cameras will soon follow.

I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with some people on Lomography and I just want to say what a beautiful community Lomography is. It’s very positive, open and receptive. I can’t think of an online community that remains as positive or complimentary of others as this world of film photography.

If you're interested in keeping up with Matt and his work, make sure to follow his Instagram, and LomoHome.

written by eloffreno on 2024-08-21 #culture #people #lomohome #family #community #documentary #community-member