© LOMOGRAPHY
Lomography celebrates 20 years.
The Lomographic Society celebrated 20 years with a spectacular anniversary this past November with photos, two new books, artistic collaborations and workshops that will roll out in the coming year. The Lomographic Society is an international organization dedicated to experimental and creative snapshot photography. Lomography promotes analog photography as a creative way to communicate and capture the world. With gallery stores all over the world, they provide a place for exhibitions, workshops, networking and products.
Lomography began in the early 1990s when a group of students
in Vienna, Austria, stumbled upon the Lomo Kompakt Automat – a small,
enigmatic Russian camera. Spontaneously taking shots from the hip, and
occasionally looking through the viewfinder, they were astounded with
the extraordinary photos the camera produced — colors that were vibrant,
with deep saturation and vignettes that framed the shot— not anything
like what they had seen before. What started as a small community of
friends became an astounding analog movement with over one million
community members. They created a new style of artistic experimental
photography that became known as Lomography and became the biggest
analog camera producer worldwide. Lomography has over 50 stores
from Paris and New York to Tokyo, Beijing, Sao Paolo and many more.
Over the last 20 years, Lomography has launched more than 150 creative
camera models that have won the hearts of millions and has hosted some
extraordinary LomoWall exhibits throughout the world.
The company has stayed true to its motto, “The Future Is Analog”
by securing a hold on film production with a distribution of Lomography
film and innovations within analog photography that includes a growing
collection of fashion, books and accessories.
Even Vladimir Putin helped promote Lomography when the future of
the LOMO-LC-A was at stake. Between 1995-1997, as the young Austrian
business grew quickly and demand for Lomography cameras grew, the price
per camera was suddenly raised by 50 percent in St. Petersburg. This
came about with the former Soviet Union split, energy prices rising and
production changing for Russian enterprises, which were now on the
threshold as new venture capitalists. In order to afford LOMO LC-A
production alone, LOMO PLC had to raise the price. As the Lomographers
could not afford the new price, tough negotiations followed and
eventually ground to a halt. The Lomographers organized a full
delegation, made an appointment with the Austrian Consul in St.
Petersburg and finally sat in front of the Vice-Mayor of St. Petersburg -
a man named Vladimir Putin, who happened to be friendly to the cause.
The future Russian premier convinced the LOMO PLC officials to
recalculate the production of the camera again and each party agreed
that production of the LOMO LC-A should be maintained at all points.
The 20th anniversary celebration this past November is the start
of exciting releases for the coming year in books, collaborations and
workshops. Lomography’s history is celebrated in the Lomo Life volume set of two hardcover books, The Story and The Cameras,
published by Thames and Hudson. The two-volume slipcase is over 348
pages with over 2,900 pictures from the Lomographic archives, cataloging
the past two decades. Both books feature forwards by cult English
author of fiction, novels and comic books Neil Gaiman and from the
award-winning independent Thai filmmaker, screenwriter and producer
Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The Story retraces important moments in the 20-year history and The Cameras presents a look at all the various models released over the years.
As part of the anniversary celebration, Lomography will also be
rolling out artistic camera collaborations over the next year from
well-known artists from around the world. Ten artists, including Neil
Gaiman, will design a camera according to the Ten Golden Rules of Lomography. The anniversary also has included a hunt for the best analog picture
from the community Lomography contestants get to submit their best
pictures and have the chance to win prizes and points for online store
credit with top photos selected for the “100 Best Lomography Photos
Postcard Set.”
