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What exactly is lomography? I’ve seen lomo cameras, but I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Joanna, Seoul.

Lomography is one of photography’s happy accidents and is a really funny story. A Russian optics company called Lomo produced low grade camera called the Lomo Kompakt Automat. Due to the camera’s cheap design and parts, they produced photos which were terrible in terms of colour rendition and focus.

The camera was destined to be forgotten when it was re-discovered and used by some Russian students in the 1990s. The students used the camera to pioneer a new style of photography based on fun, casualness and ‘off the wall’ photos. The fact that the camera produced unpredictable results heightened the attraction.

These photos were so popular that major exhibitions were held all across Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Lomo images were shown in a single exhibition. People were attracted to the fun, amateur nature of the photos. The colours were often oversaturated and sometimes quite out of focus.

Since then, Lomo was bought out by an Austrian company and the photographic style has achieved cult status around the world.

The entire concept of Lomography is cheap. Very cheap! Photographers use cheap printing processes, cheap cameras and very few accessories. Lomo cameras are renowned for being great in low light situations. The cameras are easy to use and produce interesting results.

Lomo users often shoot at strange angles, use crazy techniques and get their subjects to use unorthodox poses.

Lomo is considered a spontaneous and casual style of photography. No real photographic skill is required and the emphasis is on having fun. It’s believed that over half a million photographers world wide regularly use Lomo cameras (or similar replicas). Flickr.com has entire communities devoted to Lomography and it’s also possible to find online tutorials for turning your regular photographs into Lomo-esque pictures.

If you’re interested in getting into Lomo photography, it’s very easy to do. For under $100 you can buy a Lomo camera. Many replica Lomo cameras are less than $50. Buy some colour film and ’snap’ away happily.

Don’t take the photographs seriously and don’t think too much about controlling the result. Ask your subjects to pull silly faces or jump in the air. Shoot from strange angles or try extreme close ups. Take the film to a local, cheap developing store and have them print the shots in an hour. Some photo processing stores will often try to ‘help’ your photos look better by adjusting the mixture. Tell them to print ‘as is’ and let the results be as random as the original photographs.

Lomography is a very unique and entertaining style of taking pictures. The best part is that it is accessible to all photographers of all skill levels and of all ages. Try giving your kids a Lomo camera and watch them create brilliant, random images of the world as they see it.

Next time you plan a trip, grab a Lomo and take it with you.

Happy shooting!
David Smeaton

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