Introducing Coleman Dupuis (@kk4422) — North America's Honorary LomoHome of October 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 October we're highlighting community member Coleman Dupuis (@kk4422) for their Lomographic way of documenting the world around them.

The Georgia-based photographer has been shooting film almost exclusively for ten years, discovering the medium at 13-years-old. Over the years Coleman's style has had some major shifts, but for now they are focused on street photography and the occasional landscape when the opportunity arises.

The following words are written by @kk4422.

Lomographic Beginnings

I don’t actually remember when or how I became interested in photography in general, but the first camera I remember using was my mom’s Canon AE-1, which had been an anniversary gift from my dad. I think she had hoped that using something older and simpler would turn me away from photography, but instead it created a love for film and all things analogue. I had that camera with me almost constantly for years, and the only reason I ever put it down was because I found other cameras I wanted to try!

I originally started coming to Lomography's website just to find examples of different film stocks and camera results, to find new combinations to try. It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I really started fully exploring the community and uploading my work, inspired by a want to share more and to give my work an online space that is less social media, more community.

Living an Analogue Lifestyle

The simplest reason that I prefer film is that I just don’t like having to carry bulky batteries. But also, film and digital don’t register as the same medium to me. Film provides more restrictions, and at least for me this causes me to be a lot more creative.

I’m definitely a camera hoarder, but I’ve been slowly figuring out which ones I love enough to justify keeping. Collecting cameras is great and all, but I would love to have room in my cabinets for dishes and glassware.

Most of the time I reach for my Leica M3 and whatever film is cheapest at the time of purchase. I’m not all that picky about film. I have favorites, but at least when I’m shooting color I know I’ll be happy with almost anything. More significant to how my photos look is the fact that all of my color film is developed in homemade ECN-2. I try to keep every step of the process as DIY as possible, which also means that scrolling through my photos in chronological order gives an overview of my developing and scanning skills.

At least in the last couple of years, a lot of what I’ve been trying to communicate through my photographs is that everyone we meet is living their own life. So many people forget that — myself included at times — but remembering that we are all living complex lives with highs and lows helps us all be a little more patient with each other. I don’t have any delusions about people actually getting that idea from my photos, but in a perfect world, that would be it.

As I’ve grown as a photographer I’ve come to realize that perhaps the most helpful of the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography for me is number 8, "You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film." I often lose potentially great photos to overthinking, when it would have been better to just press the shutter and find out later if it was a good idea. In the last two years or so I’ve finally fully embraced rule 8 as kind of a modern-day decisive moment equivalent, which has made a huge difference in the pictures I’m taking.

I have so many favorite photos, but one that sticks out is one I took in Toronto last November. It had been absolutely frigid all day and was continuing to get colder at sunset when I happened upon a lakeside artificial beach (sugar beach, I think?) around sunset. It was beautiful, with a very pink sunset being mirrored by permanent pink umbrellas.

And, of course, I had been shooting black and white. I’m pretty sure that’s the only time I’ve ever rewound a roll before I reached the end. I gave up the last 8 or so shots on that roll to switch to a roll of ektachrome, and within 4 shots I had one that has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it! A couple sitting on beach chairs under an umbrella, bundled up against the cold to enjoy the sunset. It has dirt on the negative, extra grain from cross processing, and isn’t sharp at all. Bonus points for being a Lomographer, I hope?

Looking to the Future

All I can really hope for analogue photography is that it continues to exist. Things got a little questionable there for a while — I can remember demand for film being so low at one point that I got 40 rolls of fresh Kodak Colorplus 200 for something like $80. As nice as that price was, more demand for film means we all continue to have access to it.

Like anyone else, I would love to see it remain affordable for everyone (and to be sure, I think Lomography is working harder on that front than most companies). But the survival of film and analogue processes as a whole is the most important aspect to me.

I don’t have any formal projects currently, although I did just start developing a huge batch of film I shot this summer while living in New Mexico. I also still have some copies of a zine I made a few years ago — coincidentally, also about New Mexico.

If you're interested in keeping up with Coleman and their work, make sure to check out their LomoHome and Instagram.

Read Lomography USA's previously-featured LomoHomes here!

written by eloffreno on 2024-10-28 #gear #culture #people #experimental #lomohome #golden-rules #community #community-member #lomohome-of-the-month Share Article