Two months ago, I was on my home trying to figure out nutty things peeking in my averagely-rated life. Half of my life are spent here in Iloilo City with friends and not with the comfort of my own family, I have no job, restless of my socio-civic scenes and only graduate school creates a mirth out of me. I have to be impassioned the way I used to be way back my early years, perhaps, to keep me sane, I thought to myself.
As the jeep I was riding stopped nearly the gates of Nelly Garden, the popular Mansion of the Lopezes which stands in the middle of commercialized niche, in the old district of Jaro. I always get mesmerized by the beauty of it solemnity, it was like an epitome that can outlive ages. The Nelly Garden is a quintessence of what the life of the rich and affluent sugar barons then. At that point, I was frustrated for not having it photographed, for I don't have any decent camera except for my mobile phone, and at that time said “memory full.”
I finally went home after I underestimated my capacity to take a good picture with my lousy gear. I slept for two hours before my boyfriend fetched me for dinner. We went to his friend's house and while I was sitting uncomfortably, I took a glance in a single page of the magazine. The glossy paper featured Lomo Cameras. I was initially excited because of their prices, they were really up for grabs. Then I learned that these kind of cameras are still using traditional films, that it is also known as a camera toy but gives great images with stunning effects. Likewise, most of the camera are an inexpensive, medium format 120 film, made in China, appreciated for its low-fidelity aesthetic. Hence, I was introduced to Lomography. The term entails about being in the moment, capturing it with one's favorite Lomographic tool producing effects like light leaks, vignette framing and deep saturated color. It also include the concept of “Don't think, just shoot” and after more pages, my heart was starting to fall for it... not anymore because of the price, but because it was something I really need .
We went home. We passed by the Nelly Garden once again, without the urge of taking photograph, but the impulse to sleep.
There I was, appreciating a thing and dearly devastated to wait for my own camera to arrive. I know, I am not alone in this. I know, that there are several people in my shoes, whose passionate engagement with photography is driven by a desire to explore or to redefine themselves. Lomography might be my way of escaping stifling familial or social environments, or subverting oppressive expectations, allowing me to visualize alternative scenarios for my life not only in the images but in the personality I adopt to create them. Or it might just be a reflection in which mirrors my current reality, frustrating me with the illusive possibility of exerting some control over it. Whatever the reasons, whatever form it takes, I like the idea of Lomography as a meditative or reflective act. Well, just what I said, it keeps me sane.
I have now my Holga 120 GCFN, I recently taking photographs with my boyfriend. It is a good start and I have to buy more accessories for it. I'm planning to buy Lomo Fisheye 2 camera as a gift for him. He deserves to have one. Lome fisheye 2 camera blends so well with his fun-and-go personality with semi-circular fisheye masterpiece, he can just shoot and shoot, little did I know he's up for another roll. He can view that the outside world is about to twist, turn, and distort into an intoxicating fisheye-framed wonderland. We'll drink to that! Certainly, I'll just buy Fisheye lens for my Holga since I'm a bit envy with him, but not too soon.
Anyway, the most inspiring concept for me about lomography is the fact that everyday you are bound to discover photographs by anyone that are outstanding. Not only may be for boyfriend, but for others as well who share the same passion.
I was really inspired by the random concept of Lomography, and though, there are lots of tips and tricks, but it was always in the spirit of wanting to do my own thing. I want encouragement from a small circle of like-minded lomographers who are equally obsessed with capturing their own quirky visions of the world they inhabit on film. For me, this is lomography at its best.
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