Lomography

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A 1988 LOMO LC-A camera
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A 1988 LOMO LC-A camera
Lomography Fisheye Camera photo of Wakayama Castle
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Lomography Fisheye Camera photo of Wakayama Castle

Lomography is a commercial trademark of Lomographische AG, Austria for products and services related to photography. The name is licensed from a former state-run optics company LOMO PLC in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 35 mm LOMO LC-A camera employed an unusual lens which produced large amounts of distortion at the edges of the image whilst keeping the center sharp, and was promoted by businessmen from Austria with international gallery shows.

Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Accidents such as over-saturated colors, lens artifacts, and exposure defects are rehabilitated to produce swirly, abstract effects — a trait emphasized by practitioners. Others use the technique to document everyday life, because the small camera size and ability to shoot in low light encourages candid photography, photo reportage and photo vérité.

The lens effect (although perhaps not the philosophy) can be partially emulated in photo-editing programs, such as GIMP or Photoshop.

Similar to Eastman Kodak's concept of the "Kodak moment," the Lomography motto of "don't think, just shoot" presumes spontaneity, close-ups and ubiquity, while deemphasizing formal technique. Typical Lomography cameras are deliberately low-fidelity, or inexpensively constructed. Some cameras make use of multiple lenses and rainbow-colored flashes, or exhibit extreme optical distortions and even light leaks - compare the popular Chinese-made Holga. Principles of Lomography have also been extended to cinema.

Current models marketed by Lomographische AG include Lomo LC-A, Holga, Holga 35mm, Actionsampler, Frogeye, Pop-9, Oktomat, Fisheye, Fisheye2, Colorsplash, Colorsplash Flash, F-stop Bang, SuperSampler, Horizon 202, Seagull TLR and Smena 8M. The company also resells modified Polaroid cameras and Russian deadstock - the sort normally acquired at "quirky, old-school camera shops", as the company's website puts it.

The following are the company's 10 Rules of Lomography:

  1. Take your LOMO everywhere you go & whenever you go.
  2. Use it anytime — day or night.
  3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it.
  4. Shoot from the hip.
  5. Approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible.
  6. Don't think.
  7. Be fast.
  8. You don't have to know beforehand what you've captured on film.
  9. You don't have to know afterwards, either.
  10. Don't worry about the rules.

The company's promotional website for Lomography showcases many high contrast photographs, with unusual saturation and color, that were created using the technique called cross processing in which film intended for developing in slide chemistry (E-6) is processed in photographic negative chemistry (C-41), and vice-versa. This technique can be employed with any film camera and can be mimicked with digital photographs.

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