LomoManila — RP’s very own local lomography group
Say hello to LomoManila, the local lomography group.
Lomography or Lomo stands for Leningradskoye Optiko Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie (Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Enterprise), a company based in St. Petersburg, Russia, that produces medical equipment, observation apparatuses and of course, cameras.
The granddaddy of Lomo cameras is the sturdy pocket-sized Lomo Kompakt Automat 35mm camera (LCA) which was originally designed as a spy camera for the army. The vintage-looking LCAs sold in the market are refurbished and good as new; they take the trademark oversaturated photos. Other cameras from Lomo include the Holga Medium Format, Colorsplash 35mm and Horizon Kompakt panoramic, to name a few.
The popularity of lomography gave birth to a new photographic movement across the globe. To date, lomographers have included such names as Yassir Arafat, Helmut Lang, Moby and Robert Redford. Lomo aficionados take colorful and off-the-wall photographs and share them in cyberspace.
Lomomanila was born in 2002 when At Maculangan, a longtime Lomographer based in Italy, contacted the Lomographic Society in Vienna and asked if he could organize a lomographic exhibition in the Philippines. They not only agreed to the exhibition but also gave him the rights to distribute the Lomo cameras locally.
At, who is known as the godfather of Philippine Lomography, later approached Katya Guerrero who had just opened the Photography Art Center in Makati, where the show was eventually held. After his successful one-man Lomo exhibition of 450 5R lomographs, At–and Guerrero–became the Lomo ambassadors to the Philippines.
And despite not having a shop, At was able to sell more than a hundred lomos until 2004. Today, lomos can be bought online, as well as from Montage in Greenbelt and members of Lomomanila.
Lomography gained a cult following fast just through word of mouth. Eventually a lomographer, Ian Roxas, suggested opening a Yahoo group for Lomomanila (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lomomanila). The e-group popularized Lomography further. Apart from At, Katya and Ian, Holga Queen Sharon Atillo compose the founding members of Lomomanila.
To date, Lomomanila has 281 members, a handful of whom are going to be part of the upcoming exhibit on Sept. 9 titled “Lomolove.” Though they do not meet regularly for road trips or bragging sessions, they occasionally hold meetings to organize exhibits, talk about their latest lomo adventure and exchange rolls of film.
For those who want something different with photography and are unafraid to experiment or break the “rules,” try lomography.
To join Lomomanila, it is important to have a lomo camera, but for Dek, “Anyone is free to join the yahoogroup as long as you take note of the rules of the list–even if you don’t have a camera, but believe in the philosophy or want to know more about it. Anybody can join just by sending an e-mail to lomomanila-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.”
Lomo links:
Lomographic Society International: www.lomography.com
Where to buy Lomos: www.lomostuff.blogspot.com
Lomomanila on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/lomomanila
LomoManila featured @ INQ7
