Lusting after Lomography

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I have been wanting to add a new camera to my collection lately. I love my trusty Canon Rebel XT but lately I have been feeling nostalgia for film cameras. Admittedly I have been late to the party when it comes to digital cameras. I clung to my film cameras because I feared that technology would phase them out. Sure enough, I was right. I tried my best to preserve the art form as long as I personally could. But when film developing places continued to dwindle in numbers, I knew that by default, it was time to join the digital age.


I think it was 2005 when I bought my first digital camera: a Canon A80. The appeal was the external flip display to take self portraits. It was my first big purchase after college. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed shooting digitally a lot. It felt like a dirty little secret. It was new and exciting. And it also enabled many MySpace profiles photos (remember MySpace?!). However, I've always kept film cameras close to my heart. I am happy that many others share the same sentiment. Thank goodness for Lomography which truly is a diamond in the rough! If you are not familiar with Lomography, they have a reputation for producing recreational and toy cameras. Think of it as the Darwin Age of the Polaroid. We're all familiar with Polaroid cameras (at least I hope we still are!). Just imagine the evolution of one. Just as many animal species are specific to their own habitat, think of Lomography cameras as being unique to their specific functions. Without any effort you can create dreamy portraits and landscapes that are beautifully flawed. You can capture a series of moments within a single photo. You can manipulate light, color, and even perspective! The possibilities are endless!





(source: foundbath)


(source: gary campbell)


(source: lomography)


When I have some money saved, I am planning on purchasing the Lomography Diana Mini in white.


Isn't it cute? I think it would be a lovely hobby to take up since I plan to be outdoors more. I still have a lot of unused rolls of film. I'm almost certain that they are all expired... I hope they will still be ok to use. Or perhaps the expired rolls might create a cool and unusual effect? I'll let you know how my experiments go once I start shooting. I need to save some money first!





For nostalgia's sake, here are some photos that I took and developed myself :)

The Towers of Light
(I think this was four minutes of exposure, maybe even longer. The longest minutes of my life!)



This was done by placing some leaves onto developing paper and exposing it. It creates a neat X-ray effect.


If you're interested in learning more about Lomography, please check out this fun article by fellow bloggers Rob and Vanessa and also the official Lomography site of course!

I'm curious to know if any of you still use film cameras?