Lomography vs. Photography

Hi everyone,

I'm actually doing a newswriting article on lomography and its rising trend in Singapore. I'd just wanna know what you guys think of lomography. Is the trend an overhype? What do you think of lomo cameras and the effects of the pictures generated? As photographers, do you think that since lomography does not involve technically correct pictures, it cannot be labelled as a form of photography? Any comments on lomography as a whole?
Thanks!

[Snowcrash]

Maybe you can post a voting poll to have a feel among clubsnappers here.

and try doing a search

Here is the results

[Larry]

IMHO, there's many different types of photography, from nature to studio, from landscapes to macro. lomography is simply another form of it, albeit using different tools and techniques.

[SniperD]

Perspective...

is pinhole imagery a form of photography... ? SOme say leh some say lah.. but it's the basis of photography as we see as modern..

a poll will be nice.

Lomo, in my honest opinion, is photography.

... both need lights to work... wat's the diff? No versus.. juz prefrence.

[Cheesecake]

hello,

a very interesting subject to be writing on.
i was doing a thesis on the future of photography and lomography happens to be part of my research topic.

Lomography is an arts-photography movement.
it rejects the fundamental principles of photography such as sharp imagery, good contrast, control of depth of field, colour rendering, SLRs 'through the lens' 'what u see is what u get'.

in short, it questions the truth behind photography and its commercial value (think Canon and Nikon). lomography seeks to 'release' the 'hidden passion' for 'real photography', what u see is not going to be what u're going to get. rather confusing ah?

light leaks , odd colour rendering , 'lost sense of composition' are lomography's trademarks. in fact there are more.

lomography is thus, not 'photography' but lomography.


technical side...
Lomography is at its best when shot in slides and cross-processed.

perhaps u can PM me if u want more insight and details, i'll be very keen to share more details with u.

[patch17]

Originally Posted by Cheesecake hello, a very interesting subject to be writing on. i was doing a thesis on the future of photography and lomography happens to be part of my research topic. Lomography is an arts-photography movement. it rejects the fundamental principles of photography such as sharp imagery, good contrast, control of depth of field, colour rendering, SLRs 'through the lens' 'what u see is what u get'. in short, it questions the truth behind photography and its commercial value (think Canon and Nikon). lomography seeks to 'release' the 'hidden passion' for 'real photography', what u see is not going to be what u're going to get. rather confusing ah? light leaks , odd colour rendering , 'lost sense of composition' are lomography's trademarks. in fact there are more. lomography is thus, not 'photography' but lomography. technical side... Lomography is at its best when shot in slides and cross-processed. perhaps u can PM me if u want more insight and details, i'll be very keen to share more details with u.

IMHO, call a spade a spade. A lomo is a camera, a tool to take PHOTOGRAPHS. (unless of course they called the results of light striking a piece of film something else.) Ergo, lomography does not exist, just photography, in a technical sense. (hey, i can't help think this way, i'm an engineer.)

why are there no nikongraphs or canongraphs or pentaxgraphs? (maybe because these guys had the unfortunate luck to make cameras which were technically "too competent"?)

Lomography = the pictures taken with a lomo... as is with all forms of art (including photography), beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

As for releasing the "hidden passion for real photography"... well, i don't think i need a lomo to do that.

[Cheesecake]

Originally Posted by patch17 As for releasing the "hidden passion for real photography"... well, i don't think i need a lomo to do that.

aren't we getting a lil' patchy here?

these are just some information which i found out from my researches. u can try looking at the national library and the internet and gather ur own sources and conclusions. i won't even contest ur researches...

bottomline is, lomography, to the arts people at least, is a postmodern phenomenal.

what it stands for to the rest of us, is simply, photography in another context, body, movement.

so, unless u want the bibliography or the quotations...

[defn]

just my 2 cents, i find looking at lomography pretty exasperating... maybe not used to it...

[YSLee]

Ha.

Lomography is the biggest con job in the photography industry I've ever seen. It has even outdone Canon's mighty marketing deparment. I've always suspected the two students who started this whole thing were business students majoring in marketing.

Like what patch17 has said, let's call a spade a spade shall we? Pretentious crap masquerading as art is Prententious crap masquerading as art, no matter what arty farty terms are attached to it. The nicest photos from a LC-A I've seen still follow photography and visual asthetics principles.

And what a great con job it is. Do some research on the prices of the LC-As in Russia before the movement took over, and find out how much the Lomography Society are selling them for. Heck, I'll bet it's still cheaper in Russia. Compare also the prices of MADE IN CHINA samplers to the MADE IN CHINA exact-detail-for-detail copies.

Art movement. Ha.

hi there

thanks for all the responses. i've interviewed a few people who are pro-lomo but i'd like to have a more objective take to the interview. is it ok if i contact YSLee, cheesecake and Patch17? Interesting views I can hear from, I'm sure.

So yeah, can add me on ICQ at 4745777 or MSN at lomografik@hotmail.com? My assignment is due beginning next week so I need to be a little quick..instant messaging will be great to start off with.

If not, send me an email and let me know so I can email u a questionaire.

Thanks a million!

Cheers
eyesampler

[ckiang]

I wouldn't say Lomography is not photography, but the whole concept of having to buy a "special" camera to take those "less than perfect" pictures is just crap. Any cameras could have produced the same kind of pictures. And in today's day and age, with all those digital cameras out there, you can get whatever kind of saturation you want as well, just no need to pay a couple of hundred for something like a LOMO LC-A for example.

There's really nothing special about it.

Regards
CK

[CYRN]

Photography...at least as defined here is to strive for perfection..in technical, composition...etc. It bound by "rules" such as the pic should be sharp, correctly exposed and compositionally pleasing or at least there must be some "artistic" intrepretation to it.

Lomo, as I understand, have total disragard to the abovementioned rules...but looking at another prespective... lomo's rule IS "not" to follow the conventional rules....

Psychologically speaking, could it be the originator's (being from ex USSR) way of expressing "freedom"... revolt from rules enforced on them by the ex USSR?

Since the whole world is now into human rights and "total freedom", wouldn't Lomo be ...whatever you call it...sub-conciously... reinforcing a breakaway from "norms"?

Technically, a poor shot is a poor shot. BUT a poor shot may not be a poor product.

[YSLee]

CYRN, wrong, the entire "movement" was started by 2 Austrian students who picked up the camera while in Russia. Save for the camera, none of the craze had any roots in Russia.

[CYRN]

Originally Posted by YSLee CYRN, wrong, the entire "movement" was started by 2 Austrian students who picked up the camera while in Russia. Save for the camera, none of the craze had any roots in Russia.

Oh well... just a wild conspircy theory anyway.

[ckiang]

Originally Posted by CYRN Photography...at least as defined here is to strive for perfection..in technical, composition...etc. It bound by "rules" such as the pic should be sharp, correctly exposed and compositionally pleasing or at least there must be some "artistic" intrepretation to it. Lomo, as I understand, have total disragard to the abovementioned rules...but looking at another prespective... lomo's rule IS "not" to follow the conventional rules.... Psychologically speaking, could it be the originator's (being from ex USSR) way of expressing "freedom"... revolt from rules enforced on them by the ex USSR? Since the whole world is now into human rights and "total freedom", wouldn't Lomo be ...whatever you call it...sub-conciously... reinforcing a breakaway from "norms"? Technically, a poor shot is a poor shot. BUT a poor shot may not be a poor product.

So what's stopping someone from using a regular camera and break the rules as well?

Regards
CK

[CYRN]

Originally Posted by ckiang So what's stopping someone from using a regular camera and break the rules as well? Regards CK

Must they use a lomo cam to shoot lomo? I tot any cam also can. From the 10/24 site I can see that some pics are taken using regular cameras.

[ckiang]

Well, I am not too sure about what 10/24 does, but the whole LOMOGraphy movement evolves around using the "less-than-perfect" LOMO cameras to take those shots which apparently attracted so many people. Because of this hype, if it's not shot with a LOMO, it's not a Lomograph.

But you've already seen for yourself, you don't need a special camera to do those.

The whole thing therefore is nothing but marketing hype. Albeit a pretty successful one.

Regards
CK

[CYRN]

Originally Posted by ckiang Well, I am not too sure about what 10/24 does, but the whole LOMOGraphy movement evolves around using the "less-than-perfect" LOMO cameras to take those shots which apparently attracted so many people. Because of this hype, if it's not shot with a LOMO, it's not a Lomograph. But you've already seen for yourself, you don't need a special camera to do those. The whole thing therefore is nothing but marketing hype. Albeit a pretty successful one. Regards CK

If the defination of Lomocam is "less-than-perfect", looks like I've unwittingly bought a Lomo Digicam... those "no brand" 3Mpix interploated cheap plastic lens type...coolz... now to stick my foot into lomo...hahaha

[CYRN]

Should this site also have a lomo category? Since it's getting popular now.