Is Lomography physically different?
I’ve written about Lomography once before (if you have no idea what I’m on about, you’ll probably wanna have a peek at that post first), and briefly talked about what it is, how it works, and how there seem to be a huge bunch of nutters who love the art-form (I’m one of ‘em).
The question that remained, though, is ‘how can a camera allow you to take special photos’? After all, all cameras adhere to the same laws of physics and optics – so how do Lomo photos manage to look so distinctive and different?
Well, basically, a Lomo camera is just a really crappy camera. The point is, however, that it is supposed to be unbelievably low quality. The upside is that the quality flaws of the Lomo are rather predictable – which is what gives them their special look.
I was going to rant on about this at length, only to be pointed to an excellent article by Nicos, where it’s all covered:
Fundamentally, the answer is “it isn’t physically different”. The physical principles of photography are essentially invariable, regardless of camera type. Like goes into a box through a hole and prints a pattern on a photosensitive material. (or sensor) A shoebox with a hole on one side, a lomo, a disposable camera, an SLR and a digital point-and-shoot, all share this same basic model of operation.
Read the whole piece over on Travel Photography Blog!
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Insights, suggestions and comments
I understand the point he’s trying to make about it just being a camera and its really about the photographer making stylistic decisions but any ol’ camera can’t reproduce that distinct brightness in the middle of the frame and slight vignetting along the edges like a lomo lca can, the lomo’s lens optics and focal length are the reason for that. So yes, a lomo is physically different from other cameras but you can apply the same lomo-esque sensibilities to any camera.
Sweet, thans for introducing lomo to me, when i get my paycheck, ill get one of those cheap fisheye cameras! Yeah.
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