Thursday, June 26, 2008

Rule No. 8 and 9 - Mastered by Heart

Weeks ago, a professor advised us to do something that scares us once in a while. I found it profound, yet I never really had the time to follow it religiously. Or so I thought.

Do one thing that scares you.

Apparently, I was able to put this into practice without even knowing it.

This past month, (well, this is quite obvious if you check my multiply account) I’ve been preoccupied with this emerging lifestyle called lomography. It’s basically a type of photography minus technicalities, minus adobe photoshop and minus expensive cameras. In short, it was perfect for a trying hard photographer like me.

So what does lomography have to do with anything fearful?

Well, it wasn’t actually something downright scary, like sky diving or bungee jumping, but it involved something I wasn’t comfortable with: being out of control.

In this day and age, we are so used to digital cameras, where we can instantly view the picture we took. To keep it or to erase it, the choice is in our hands. And we can conveniently make the decision seconds after clicking the shutter. If the picture appears so- so, we can always edit it using adobe and other editing software. Make it brighter, adjust the contrast, etc. ,etc.

Shifting to lomography after getting used to techie cameras was harder than I thought. In short, it wasn’t easy letting another take control; in this case, letting the camera take control. With lomo cams, the lomographer’s duty is just to point and shoot. You cannot be assured of a perfect picture. Sometimes, the view finder isn’t even accurate and light leaks are inevitable. So with toy cameras, you have to prepare yourself of being surprised all the time.

Lomography, aside from fulfilling my frustration, allowed me to loosen up and let go. It taught me to be carefree and not worry about perfection. Most of the time, we get a grip of something, offer it our full attention and give it our best shot- and that’s necessary- because there are essential things we should work hard for and take control of. But sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded that there are hands other than ours that could also make beautiful things if we can just allow it. Snapshots, vignettes, light leaks, among others, served as that reminder for me.

my two babies: bangs and moby

Golden Rules of Lomography

8. You do not have to know beforehand what you captured on film.
9. Nor afterwards
.


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