What Does "Lomo" Mean?

[braxus]

I've seen this term used only in recent time, and wonder- what exactly does LOMO mean anyway? I think its in reference to using Holga type cameras, but haven't found anything to confirm that.

 

[Ian Grant]

It was a camera brand/model made in the USSR. Leningradskoe Optiko Mechanichesckoe Objedinenie (LOMO)

They made varoius cameras like Lubitels, Smenas and some with the Lomo name on them.

Ian

 

[pgomena]

It translates to cheap, shoddy, hip.

Peter Gomena

 

[braxus]

It translates to cheap, shoddy, hip.

Peter Gomena

Sounds like what companies sell today- cheap, shoddy, and hip.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Ленинградское Oптико-Mеханическое Oбъединение, ЛОМО́

Leningrad Optico-Mechanical Association

 

[Alan W]

http://www.lomography.com/

 

[ndrs]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOMO

They mainly produce(d) high-quality optical devices, like this telescope. It's just a coincidence that their name now mainly stands for cheap cameras.

 

[wildbill]

it's hipster for CRAP.

 

[Darkroom317]

it's hipster for CRAP.

+1

It is something that implies that film photography is unpredictable uncontrollable crap. Which we all know is not true at all.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/americas/real-film-survives-digital-age

 

[eddie]

And the disparaging of "lomo" continues...
A look through the Gallery submissions, shot with Holgas/Dianas, would put an end to the idea that creative work can't be done with them. There are some people making beautiful images with low-tech cameras.

 

[removed account4]

i have seen more crappy photos from people
who use expensive cameras ( leica, hassy, ebony & al. )
who think that because they use an expensive camera
it automatically means they produce stellar photographs.

crappy photos from "hipster" cameras?
obviously folks that say this have never looked at much of the
work produced by people who use "hipster" cameras ..
most of the people using hipster-gear have imagination ...
most of the other-people just try to copy someone else's style
and try to be a mimic.

besides if it wasn't for "the hipsters" that most of the people
here and other places on the internet dislike so much
there would be fewer people buying film &c.

too bad there are so many haters ...

 

[Alan W]

i have seen more crappy photos from people
who use expensive cameras ( leica, hassy, ebony & al. )
who think that because they use an expensive camera
it automatically means they produce stellar photographs.

crappy photos from "hipster" cameras?
obviously folks that say this have never looked at much of the
work produced by people who use "hipster" cameras ..
most of the people using hipster-gear have imagination ...
most of the other-people just try to copy someone else's style
and try to be a mimic.

besides if it wasn't for "the hipsters" that most of the people
here and other places on the internet dislike so much
there would be fewer people buying film &c.

too bad there are so many haters ...

Right on.These people are doing their bit to keep film alive-they've even relaunched 110 film,I find lomo stuff to be new and exciting,long may they rule!

 

[railwayman3]

It translates to cheap, shoddy, hip.

Peter Gomena

A bit harsh...have a look at www.lomoamerica.com ....they produce some very advanced kit, particularly specialist and surgical microscopes, should you have a few thousand $$$ to spare.

 

[DSLR]

Let's not forget Michael Kenna uses one of those "hipster" cameras.

 

[JLP]

i have seen more crappy photos from people
who use expensive cameras ( leica, hassy, ebony & al. )
who think that because they use an expensive camera
it automatically means they produce stellar photographs.

crappy photos from "hipster" cameras?
obviously folks that say this have never looked at much of the
work produced by people who use "hipster" cameras ..
most of the people using hipster-gear have imagination ...
most of the other-people just try to copy someone else's style
and try to be a mimic.

besides if it wasn't for "the hipsters" that most of the people
here and other places on the internet dislike so much
there would be fewer people buying film &c.

too bad there are so many haters ...

No way i could have said it so well!

I just bought a LOMO

 

[AgX]

Lomo America still has a link to Lomo 35mm cameras. Not surprisingly by now the link ends at something else.

 

[summicron1]

lomo is not a camera, it's a way of shooting and thinking -- the Leica made the "snapshot" possible -- just ask Bresson -- and the Lomo is taking that to a new level == don't think, don't aim, just shoot -- sure it's a game of averages but what isn't?

Some of my best work on a recent trip to San Francisco was shot with a Holga...

look at it this way, folks: You need people to buy film for film to survive, none of us is getting any younger, Lomo is attracting YOUNG PEOPLE to film photography.

So don't be so quick to criticize .... HCB was considered an upstart in his day too.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

most of the people using hipster-gear have imagination ...

The word 'hipster' used to denote someone who wanted to be hip, but wasn't. Come to think of it, its meaning hasn't changed much.

And imagine how much better hipster work would be if they just picked up an old Zeiss Nettar, Cannonet, Nikon P&S or any of the cameras that can be found at the Goodwill store for $5. But then they wouldn't be hipsters any more, they would have joined the truly hip.

Neither Diana or Holga cameras come from LOMO. The 'Lomography' outfit doesn't have much of anything to do with LOMO, except to resell some LOMO products at highly inflated prices. Cameras made by LOMO usually produced acceptable images, the quality of the Soviet era materials used in the cameras' construction was another matter.

I am no fan of the 'fellow traveller' justification: just because it uses film doesn't give it value.

 

[Noble]

crappy photos from "hipster" cameras?
obviously folks that say this have never...

Have never what? Looked at the ridiculous prices on the lomography website?

i have seen more crappy photos from people
who use expensive cameras ( leica, hassy, ebony & al. )
who think that because they use an expensive camera
it automatically means they produce stellar photographs.

Please actually visit the lomography website. Dead Link Removed! Seriously. You need to spend $200 on a POS to be "creative?" I got a mint Canon Elan 7NE and 50mm 1.8 for less than that piece of crap. It's Lomography that is selling expensive cameras to dumb hipsters.

I like lomography because it adds more film buyers into the mix. No one is denying in the hands of an expert consistently good quality creative work can be produced. But to claim that somehow using a $200 POS fixed aperture single shutter speed camera will make you take better pictures than a cheaper Elan 7NE setup is stretching things. Don't you think so? Only when it comes to "art" do people have these discussions.

 

[DSLR]

You need to spend $200 on a POS to be "creative?" I got a mint Canon Elan 7NE and 50mm 1.8 for less than that piece of crap. It's Lomography that is selling expensive cameras to dumb hipsters.

I agree, some of those cameras are ridiculously overpriced. I can see spending $50, but 200!?! I believe LOMO makes their own film, these "hipsters" may not be saving film.

The other thing I don't understand is the fact that most of these cameras use 120, wouldn't 35mm be good enough when you're trying to get that LOMO look? That being said, I have seen some impressive work with these cameras. Why not just buy a bunch of disposable film cameras and wait for them to expire?

 

[removed account4]

80$ for a 35mm film movie camera ...
that doesn't sound too expensive to me,
seeing a 8mm bolex costs probably that much ( had a few of them )
a 16mm bolex costs a small fortune ( had one of them )
and a current 35mm movie camera costs multiples of that
... and a vintage one, well who knows if they work.
plenty of other stuff for less than 100$ too .. not everything there was $200.

i find it funny that people are so pissed off about lomo cameras
their "aesthetic" and the crowd they sell to ..
much more fun going on there than at a "large format workshop"

who knows maybe after they get tired of their lomo they will buy a
thrift store camera ( will it work ? ) and "up/down grade" to being a bottom feeder
on ebay or places like this ... or maybe the lomo is pretty much the only thing they will want ?

who cares .. i sure don't
( but i might ask for a kino for my birthday )

 

[AgX]

I believe LOMO makes their own film, these "hipsters" may not be saving film.

Lomography do not make own films. At their best they offer custom conversions.

 

[flash26c]

Remember, buying an expensive camera doesn't make you a photographer; it makes you an expensive camera owner---------

 

[jp498]

Lomo is still cheaper than Lensbaby, Kodak Portrait 305, Verito, Cooke, Pinkham&Smith.

 

[marenmcgowan]

You can get a Lomo for $200 and up... Or, a Diana for ballpark 60 and higher and a Holga for $25 or more... Since they all seem to fall into the Lomography category, then I guess you can pick one that suits your budget and be a "Lomographer." If you go to the website to look at buying any of these options, you can spend lots of dollars and even purchase something that matches your fashionable attire. The best part is that all this means that more people are getting interested in film for whatever reason. I say who cares as long as you are shooting film and having fun.