Lomography

File:Lomo-lca sample.png

While cheap plastic toy cameras using film often used in lomography were and are produced by multiple manufacturers, Lomography is named after the Soviet-era cameras produced by Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie. Formerly a state-run optics manufacturer, LOMO privatised following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and became LOMO PLC. The company created and produced the 35 mm LOMO LC-A Compact Automat camera, now central to the lomography movement. This camera was loosely based upon the Cosina CX-1 introduced in the early 1980s.{{cite web|title=LOMO LC-A's Father: The Cosina CX-2|url=http://www.lomography.com/magazine/reviews/2011/08/02/Cosina-CX-2|publisher = Lomographische AG|access-date=26 May 2012|date=2 August 2011}} The LOMO LC-A produces "unique, colorful, and sometimes blurry" images.{{cite news|last=Drake|first=James|title=A Camera That Really Opens Your Eyes|url=http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_24/c3685295.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817041135/http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_24/c3685295.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 August 2000|access-date=26 May 2012|newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=12 June 2000}}

Lomography has been a highly social pursuit since 1992, with local and international events organised by Lomographische GmbH. Lomographische, doing business as Lomography, is also a commercial company selling analogue cameras, films and accessories. The company continues to promote the Lomographic style; however, it is not necessary to use the company's products to take lomographic photos.

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Lomographische GmbH, doing business as Lomography, is a commercial company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, which sells cameras, accessories, and film.{{cite news|last=Blenford|first=Adam|title=Lomos: New take on an old classic|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7007160.stm|access-date=26 May 2012|newspaper=BBC News|date=22 September 2007}} It hosts local and international events through its non-profit division, the Lomographic Society International. The company is the namesake of the lomography genre of experimental photography.

The Lomographic Society International was founded in 1992 by a group of Viennese students interested in the LC-A.{{cite news|access-date=2018-05-10|title=How An Analog Photo Company Can Thrive In An Instagram Age|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3048509/how-an-analog-photo-company-can-thrive-in-an-instagram-age|newspaper=Fast Company|date=11 August 2015}}{{cite news|first1=Stephen|last1=Dowling|access-date=2018-05-10|title=Did the Lomo camera save film photography?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20434270|newspaper=BBC News|date=22 November 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lomography.com/about/timeline|title=History · Lomography|publisher = Lomographische AG}} Lomography started as an art movement through which the students put on exhibitions of photos; the art movement then developed into the Lomographische AG, a commercial enterprise.

Lomography signed an exclusive distribution agreement with LOMO PLC in 1995—becoming the sole distributor of all LOMO LC-A cameras outside of the former Soviet Union.{{cite news|title=A guide to Lomography|url=http://www.ephotozine.com/article/a-guide-to-lomography-137|access-date=26 May 2012|newspaper=ePhotozine|date=2 August 2002}} The new company reached an agreement with the deputy mayor of St Petersburg, the future Russian Prime Minister and President, Vladimir Putin, to receive a tax break in order to keep the LOMO factory in the city open.

Since the introduction of the original LOMO LC-A, Lomography has produced a line of their own film cameras. In 2005, production of the original LOMO LC-A was discontinued. Its replacement, the LOMO LC-A+, was introduced in 2006. The new camera, made in China rather than Russia, featured the original Russian lens manufactured by LOMO PLC.{{cite web|title=Timeline|url=http://www.lomography.com/about/timeline|publisher = Lomographische AG|access-date=30 May 2012}} This changed as of mid-2007 with the lens now made in China as well. In 2012 the LC-A+ camera was re-released as a special edition.{{Cite news|url=https://hypebeast.com/2012/12/lomography-lc-a-20th-anniversary-edition|title=Lomography LC-A+ 20th Anniversary Edition|work=Hypebeast|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en}} It costs ten times the original secondhand value of the old LOMO LC-A.

The Lomographic Society International (Lomography) has moved on to produce their own range of analogue cameras, films and accessories. Lomography has also released products catered to digital devices, such as the Smartphone Film Scanner;{{Cite news|url=https://hypebeast.com/2013/1/the-lomography-smartphone-film-scanner|title=The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner|work=Hypebeast|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en}} and several lenses such as the Daguerreotype Achromat lens collection{{Cite news|url=https://hypebeast.com/2016/4/lomography-daguerreotype-camera-lens|title=Lomography Bridges Technology With the Past by Recreating the First Photographic Optic Lens|work=HYPEBEAST|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en}} for analogue and digital SLR cameras with Canon EF, Nikon F or Pentax K mounts, inspired by 19th century Daguerreotype photography. In 2013, together with Zenit, Lomography produced a new version of the Petzval Lens designed to work with Canon EF and Nikon F mount SLR cameras.

Some have questioned the pricing of Lomography's plastic "toy" cameras,{{cite web |title=Opinion: Lomography, an Alternative Perspective on Traditional Photo Standards |url=https://petapixel.com/2015/07/21/opinion-lomography-an-alternative-perspective-on-traditional-photo-standards/ |website=petapixel.com|date=21 July 2015 }} which run from US$100 to $400.

File:Diana Mini.jpg

Cameras that have been marketed by Lomography:

• LOMO LC-A+
• LC-A 120{{cite news|access-date=2018-05-10|title=Film is not dead! The Lomo LC-A 120 helps fuel the retro revival|url=https://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/film-isn-t-dead-the-lomo-lc-a-120-helps-fuel-the-retro-revival-1264614|newspaper=TechRadar}}{{cite news|access-date=2018-05-10|title=Lomography LC-A 120|url=http://uk.pcmag.com/lomography-lc-a-120/41746/review/lomography-lc-a-120|newspaper=PCMag UK|date=7 May 2015}}
• Lomo LC-Wide
• Diana F+
• Diana Mini – a 35 mm version of the Diana F+
• Diana Baby – a 110 format version of the Diana F+
• Diana Multi Pinhole Operator
• Diana Instant Square
• Spinner 360° – a 360° panoramic camera
• Sprocket Rocket
• ActionSampler – a four-lensed miniature 35 mm camera
• Pop-9
• Oktomat
• Fisheye One
• Fisheye No.2
• Fisheye Baby – a 110 format version of the Fisheye No.2
• Colorsplash
• Colorsplash Flash
• SuperSampler

File:Lomography "La Sardina" toy camera with flash unit.jpg

• La Sardina

• Fritz the Blitz Flash
• LomoKino – a 35 mm analog movie camera
• Konstruktor – a build-it-yourself 35 mm SLR camera
• HydroChrome Sutton's Panoramic Belair Camera
• LomoMod No.1 – a flat-packed DIY cardboard medium format camera
• LomoApparat
• Lomo'Instant
• Lomo'Instant Automat
• Lomo'Instant Automat Glass
• Lomo'Instant Wide
• Lomomatic 110{{Cite web |last=Aldred |first=John |date=2024-03-06 |title=Lomography adds to its 110 film lineup with the Lomomatic 110 |url=https://www.diyphotography.net/lomography-adds-to-its-110-film-lineup-with-the-lomomatic-110/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=DIY Photography |language=en-US}} – a new 110 format camera with a glass lens

The company produces 35 mm, 120 and 110 film in color negative, black and white as well as redscale. Lomography also produces its own range of experimental color-shifting film called LomoChrome.{{Cite web |date=27 September 2019 |title=The History Of LomoChrome - Short Read |url=https://analoguewonderland.co.uk/blogs/film-photography-blog/the-history-of-lomochrome-short-read |access-date=8 November 2022 |website=Analogue Wonderland}}

File:Fisheye2 0709.jpg|A Fisheye 2 with a fisheye viewfinder

File:2023 Aparat Łomo ŁK-A (3).jpg|A 1988 LOMO LC-A camera

File:Wakayama-jo-Lomo.jpg|Fisheye-lens photo of Wakayama Castle

File:Lomography Supersampler (5237253103).jpg|Lomography Supersampler

File:2023 Lomography ActionSampler (1).jpg|Lomography Action Sampler

File:Lomography Oktomat photo.jpg|Photo taken with a Lomography Oktomat with 8 sequentially-firing shutters

File:VistaQuest VQ1005 1.3 MegaPixel digital keychain camera.jpg|A VistaQuest VQ1005 1.3 MegaPixel digital keychain camera

• Lo-fi photography

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• {{Official website|https://www.lomography.com/|Lomographische GmbH's website}}
• {{cite web |author1=Lily Rothman |title=Lomography and the 'Analogue Future' |url=http://time.com/3788437/lomography/ |website=Time |date=10 May 2012}}
• {{cite web |author1=Tyler Lee |title=Lomography Reinvigorates The Disposable Camera With ‘Simple Use’ |url=https://www.ubergizmo.com/2017/04/lomography-disposable-camera-simple-use/ |website=Ubergizmo |date=18 April 2017}}
• {{cite web |title=What is Lomography? |url=https://1stwebdesigner.com/what-is-lomography/ |website=1stWebDesigner |date=5 May 2017}}
• {{cite web |title=What is Lomography or lomo camera? |url=https://thedarkroom.com/what-is-lomography/ |website=The Darkroom Photo Lab |date=11 February 2016}}

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Category:Photography by genre

Category:Trademarks