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Take a look at Lomo

By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Dec 15, 2001, Page 11

Lomo, or Leningradskoye Optiko Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie, is Russia's premier maker of optical devices. Situated in St Petersburg, the company began making cameras for military and espionage purposes as early as 1914. Some 15 years later they would create a robust yet compact and light-sensitive camera that was the company's first non-defense product.

Fast-forward to the 1980s: Soviet General Igor Petrowitsch Kornitzky, inspired by Nikon, the household camera for Japanese at the time, gives orders to refine and mass-produce Lomo cameras for Soviets everywhere. His intention was to let every Soviet comrade have a Lomo to document their glorious Soviet lives. Millions of cameras were promptly produced and inexpensively sold. Russians and their fellow communists in Vietnam, Cuba and East Germany happily snapped their way through the 1980s, documenting the last gasps of communism.

The worldwide phenomenon didn't begin until a decade later when two Viennese students took a trip to the Czechoslovakia in 1991. In a flea market in Prague, they found two used Lomos, which they knew nothing about except that they were small and cute. Finding some leftover film in the cameras, they took several photos of their trip. Back in Vienna they got a real surprise: The images were nothing like what they expected with an ordinary camera.

The photos quickly circulated among their friends, and their friends' friends and demand became so great that they travelled to the manufacturer in Moscow to purchase 50 new cameras.

What appealed to them was its imprecise, night-vision viewfinder that often leaves out more than half of the intended subject, the intensified primary colors that can be as bright as seen by the naked eye, and the resulting uncomposed or abstract images, which they began calling Lomography.

They soon founded the Lomographic Society in Vienna, with the first Lomographic exhibitions, parties and activities.

In 1995 the Lomographic Society was registered as a limited company and bought the rights to the camera from its Russian manufacturer -- who had just decided to halt production -- and began distributing it globally. By this time, the society's international network had sprouted over 100 branches.

Between 1995 and last year, approximately 300,000 people worldwide became members of the society. In Taiwan, since establishing itself in March with some 600 members, the society has grown to over 3,000, about 50 of whom regularly post their works on the society's Web site.

Picture-imperfect

Pictures taken by a Lomo camera typically show blocks of blurred colors or flaming lights against a dark background. Sometimes, the images look more like abstract oil paintings than photographs. The camera's inability to exactly record images was seen as full of unrealized potential and turned into creative advantage.

"It often happens that we can't recognize the photos we took because they are far from what we intended. It's unpredictable, and that's what makes it interesting," Damien Brachet, head of the Lomo Society's Taiwan branch, told the Taipei Times.

As he talks, he snaps intermittent shots without bothering to focus or even look through the viewfinder -- just swings his arm and clicks. This casualness, he explains, is how many good Lomo photos are taken.

The resulting photos may leave people wondering what they're looking at. That perhaps is the intention, as Lomo photos are seldom seen individually but made into a montage of hundreds of photos.

In Most F**ked Up, the society's current group exhibition in Taipei, visitors are instantly confronted by abstract montages.

The photo studios that developed the photos for the exhibit actually didn't print most of them at first, saying the customer wouldn't want such "useless" images. Some show a flood of light or total darkness and others show indiscernible images. The camera of one of the participants was in fact broken. Not knowing as much, he created images that were stripes of colors. Another forgot to advance the film, creating some uniquely interesting double exposures.

"These are usually dismissed as accidents, not photography, but somehow, they are beautiful. ... Isn't that the definition of art?" said Brachet.

"Since people usually get their first Lomo camera at galleries hosting Lomo exhibitions, they tend to think they are to create great works of art with it," said Brachet. So they intentionally blur the images or [look for] an abstract composition.

"You can see that they are trying too hard and the photos just look unnatural. ... It takes some time for them to realize that what they happen to shoot at ease comes out best," said Brachet. Simply a view of the sky in a place you like, or your good friend smiling into the camera when you're having a good time is the most impressive. It's taken with your heart, spontaneously and cannot be repeated."

Technical perfection is not so important to Lomo users. "After taking Lomo photos for about a year, my techniques have improved a lot through learning from other members of the society," said Jason Hsu, one of three lomographers whose works will be on display at the Lomokao exhibition in Kaohsiung next week. "However, as I look back on my works over the last year, what I like best are still those first photos I took. I had a lot of fun experimenting with shooting in the dark and so on."

A tribal affair

The Lomo Society's double role as both the distributor of the camera and organizer of Lomo exhibitions contributed to its unique marketing schemes. Most sales of cameras take place in art spaces holding Lomo exhibitions. The society has even refused lucrative cooperation projects proposed by retailers such as 7-eleven.

In a market where celebrity sells, the society seems to mute the fact that many accomplished artists are also fervent Lomo users. They include, director Wang Kar-wei (王家衛) and his cameraman Christopher Doyle, in Hong Kong. In Japan, photographer Araki Nobuyoshi -- known for his eerie images -- and members of the pop music group SMAP are also society members. In Taiwan, popular singer-songwriter Chen Chi-chen (陳綺貞) just published her first book of Lomo photos.

The marketing strategy combines commercialism with art events. This has drawn a faithful band of customers, a large number of whom work as designers or in cultural fields. According to Brachet, this is the secret to the product's longevity and its survival as a product that hasn't been upgraded for more than half a century.

Citing Polaroid's I-Zone as an example, Brachet elaborated on the importance of targeting the right group. Polaroid, whose "Instamatic" was one of the best-selling cameras of all time, learned a lesson with the launch of I-Zone.

"Possibly inspired by the Hello Kitty sticker-photo booths from Japan, they put forward this small camera making cute, small photos. Targeting teenagers, they spent huge money hiring the Spice Girls to speak for the product and put up promotional campaigns everywhere," Brachet said.

"It soon went out of fashion as fickle teenagers ... daunted by the high price of film, quickly turned their attention elsewhere."

The Lomo society's marketing approach instead is to avoid the spotlight and keep the medium tribal, doing most promotions on the society's banner-free Web site.

With three exhibitions going on in Taiwan at the same time, and two more scheduled for next month, Taiwan's Lomo society seems to be doing quite well. Previous exhibitions have shown a creative freedom seldom seen in photography.

Will this freshness prove a trendy fetish, as in it did in Hong Kong or is it just another fashionable brand to embrace, as in Japan? Perhaps it's here to stay as an accessible art form. One needs to see what Lomo can do to find out the answers.

Current Lomographic exhibitions:

Cruising, by the Lomo Society, at Eslite Bookstore, Core Pacific Shopping Mall; 138 Pateh Rd., Sec. 4 (八德路四段138號), until tomorrow.

Most F**ked Up, by the Lomo Society, at Cafe 2.31; 27, Ln. 86, Hsinyi Rd., Sec. 2 (信義路二段86巷27號); until Dec. 23.

Lomokao, by Jason, Vodka and Yue, at La Strada Cafe; 67, Chungcheng 2nd Rd. Kaohsiung (高雄中正二路67號); Dec. 20 to Jan. 25.

Moving Target, by the Lomo Society, at Dish, Eslite Bookstore; GF, 245 Tunhua S. Rd., Sec. 1. (敦化南路一段245號); from Jan. 7 to Jan. 26.

Photos courtesy of the Lomographic Society
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