Photography can be an intimidating hobby with a big learning curve. Nevertheless, Lomography puts the fun back into photography, whether you’re a professional photographer or a total amateur. Compare the crowd at the official Lomography store in Dunhua to the camera stores near Taipei Main and you’d see what I mean. Throughout the day, you have hip youngsters buzzing around the Lomography store with big grins on their faces.
Lomography picked up in the early 1990s with the compact 35mm LOMO LC-A camera. The low quality of the plastic camera was also its charm. The camera often produced whimsical photos that was blurry and discolored.
Fast forward to today, and the range has grown to over dozens of film cameras and accessories. The most popular being the Diana+ and Fisheye cameras.
The philosophy of Lomography is pretty straight-forward and is mainly about being spontaneous. They have even developed 10 golden rules that are short and easy 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 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 (William Firebrace)
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 Lomography store in Taipei opened in June this year and it’s probably one of my favorite stores here. If Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory is a haven for sweet tooths, then the Lomography store provides never-ending eye candy for photographers.
What I like about the store is how everything’s hands on. Every product and accessory is laid out in front of you on a glass table. There are photo examples plastered around the walls and the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful.
There’s even an open coffee lounge with vintage furniture from Vienna and free Wi-Fi access. What’s more, the store also offers frequent photo workshops and seminars. Although the classes are in Chinese, the staff do go out of their way to assist you in English. Some workshops allow you fiddle around with the products and take them out for a test drive. How sweet’s that?
Even if you know nothing about photography except for using a camera to take photos at parties, the Lomography store is definitely still worth checking out. It’s a fun environment that offers something for everyone.
Lomography store details
Where: No.35. Lane 187, Sec.1, Dunhua S. Rd., Taipei
Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 2:00pm–10:00pm; Sat-Sun: 12:00pm–10:00pm
Contact: +886 2 27736111
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What a great store, Carrie. I wish there was one in Hong Kong. The “Golden Rules” are priceless and should be followed by everyone!
You’re in luck Stevo, there is a Lomo store in Hong Kong:
http://microsites.lomography.com/stores/gallery-stores/hongkong
Wow – I didn’t realize the Lomo community was this strong. Are there also digital Lomo shooters out there?
I’ve been wanting to get a Diana for a while now. The only thing that has stopped me is the cost. Even though the Urban Outfitters ones (the only ones available to me here) seem a bit pricey, I think I’d spend a lot of cash on film & development. The store looks like the ideal place to try it out first. But I expect I’d have so much fun I’d probably cave in right away and got my own stuff
There’s something about photographing with a film camera that even a dSLR can’t replace. I guess the whole film development is part of the excitement of not knowing what you’ve photographed.
I thought I’d spend a lot of money on development, but it’s quite alright. Unlike a digital camera, I’m probably more selective about what I photograph rather than crazily snapping away.
Get one and you’d never look back and see it as an investment rather than an expense.
Very cool. I’m no photographer so it is probably not a surprise, but I have never even heard of lomography (yet you say it’s been around since the early 90s … how embarrassing is that?)
Do they not have any digital options? Can you develop the photos yourself in a dark room or do you send them off? My mom and dad owned a weekly newspaper when I was growing up and I spent many a day hanging out with them in their dark room. I would be tempted to check out lomography just for the excuse to get back in there!.
.-= Cherrye at My Bella Vita´s last blog ..Real Recipe Wednesday- Mollica di Pane =-.
The beauty of Lomo cameras is the lack of digital options. To my knowledge, all Lomo cameras are films and the photos created have that nostalgic tinge to it.
If you have a dark room to develop the prints, then that’s half the fun. But like the majority of us who don’t have that luxury, you would have to take the roll of film to a photo shop to get it developed into prints. It’s not too expensive and the more roll films you develop in one go, the more of a discount you can receive.
If you’re tech-saavy, you can also purchase a film scanner.
Btw, I’ve been trying to find the search field on your blog! Wanted to see if you have pasta recipes.
I’m seriously *so* interested in finding one of these cameras. I wish we had a store like the one you “reviewed” here in Calabria so I could play around with them. My husband’s cousin is very techy, so maybe he knows something about them?
Thank you so much for mentioning that you couldn’t find the search button. I’ll move it ASAP so it is in a more noticeable location on the site. In the meantime, here is the link to the “food and recipes” category. There are a lot of pasta recipes in the mix!
.-= Cherrye at My Bella Vita´s last blog ..Real Recipe Wednesday- Mollica di Pane =-.
Hey Yi,
I have a film camera too, I stop using it a while ago. I really like the Lomo Style photos these Lomography camera create. You don’t get those feel from a DSLR even through lightroom. Great post!
-S