Lomography: A type of art photography in which color is emphasized. Traditionally,
cameras such as the Holga, Lomo, Colorsplash, and Supersampler are used
to create strange and unusual photographs. Lomographic photos are
primarily characterized by vignettes (blurry and faded edges), random
subjects, and nonadherance to traditional photography rules.
And yes, you can still get filmed developed, pretty much anywhere. You also don't need to buy a Lomo camera - I have a few inherited oldies I can't wait play with. But newer, lomo cameras like the Holga, give you options. Colour filters for your lens and double, even triple exposures if your feeling brave.
Lomography is a relatively inexpensive hobby to start up - the cameras, generally made out of plastic anyway, are affordable, and as long as you don't get shutter happy (digital photography often means taking hundreds of photos of the same thing) developing your films shouldn't hurt your pockets too much either.
Below pics were taken with my Holga 35mm during a walk through the Jo'burg CBD and a visit up to Carlton Centre.
The whole point of Lomography is to have fun, there's no editing, no filters and less focus on, well... focus. It's all about letting go, and more often than not you'll find some real gems once you've had your film developed, and not because you spent an hour working on your composition... my best pics so far have happened purely by accident... Having my film developed has become a little bit like Christmas morning... all year round.
If you have an old film camera lying around... and perhaps some expired film, give it a go.
Lomography have a shop open in Rosebank, and it's really like a toy shop from grown ups. You're also guaranteed to get useful advice before making a purchase. Find out more about there store here: Lomography Embassy Store Facebook Page
To end off, here are a few "rules" to follow:
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 a part of it.
4. Try to shoot from the hip.
5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.
6. Don’t think.
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
