One top-quality present lurking under the tree for me this year was a white plastic Diana camera from my daughter and her husband. Not a huge surprise, however – considering how I keep praising the lomographic prints these young people keep creating with the turquoise plastic Diana camera I gave them in the spring. Back in October a twelve-foot long display of their grainy blurry endearing Diana photos got installed (where it remains to this day) on one of the empty walls here at Spencer Alley.
The gift-givers included a supply of 120 film, so literally nothing is stopping me from starting, except for hesitation over what to start with. Probably I have got too used to digital cameras where you often take hundreds of shots (at no cost) for the sake of the few that work. In the world of 120, with its large square prints, there are only twelve exposures on a roll. And the results for beginners are likely to be dicey.
Then this afternoon on Flickr, vaguely looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon a self-described "Lomo Homo" who takes pictures in New York of himself and friends and the subway and dance clubs, views across water or of anything that glows at night. Below is some of this admirable, confidence-inspiring work, and the photographer's name is Roozbeh Ashtyani.
