E Learning Week

LOMO?

It is interesting to notice how photography originated and its evolution; inspired from an alternative to painting, the value of an image I shall say, deteriorated. The economics of an image in the past is driven by the demand of a highly skilled artist, a painter, to duplicate what he sees onto a canvas, or a painting medium. Accuracy is key and that adds value to an artwork.

Countless research had been done to improve the technology to capture light and embed an image to a film. From taking hours to expose for a picture, today films are so sensitive it takes a fraction of a second to expose and an exact duplicate of a scene/object is achieved. In my standards, I see photography as a medium of great respect for its nature in perfection.

It is indeed come to a surprise when this invention of perfection comes to the “wrong” hands in the subculture “Lomography”. The Rules of Lomography follows:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.
2. Use it any time – day and night.
3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.
4. Try the shot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don’t think, just shoot.
7. Be fast.
8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
9. Afterwards either.
10. Don’t worry about any rules.

The technology have become very affordable that a camera is now used more like an accessory, a toy, and lost the deeper meaning of what the technology holds in the past. Rule number 5, 6, 8 and 10 certainly provokes my belief in photography. The purpose of the viewfinder, is to see the object of interest, to frame it nicely, the purpose of choosing the ASA speed, the ability to control aperture and shutter speed gauge one’s understanding of light and a good photographer need to think about his exposure and of course, a film exposed can never be deleted, thus we need to know what we captured on film.

The belief of ‘freedom’ is what defines the Lomography culture. The accidental overexposed photographs, the light leaks from the lower quality toy cameras and blurred image is recovered with the name of art photography. This deviant culture further provokes my strong traditional belief of having a concrete idea and meaning before executing and art work.

Nonetheless, who have the right to define what is right and what is wrong in art. Art is evolving and the value of an art piece is subjected to the audiences’ own standards and perspective of how things should be based on their influences, at that specific time. Cliche as it sounds; the only constant in life, is change.