Lomography Pioneers: @satomi and the Diana F+ Make a Lovely Pair

Can you imagine that it's almost 25 years since we launched the Lomography community in the WWW? In 1997, social media was unheard of, so stumbling into our little corner on the web was almost like a little secret, some sort of a serendipitous encounter among like-minded folks. We have grown over the years—all thanks to you—and so, we'd like to feature some of the earliest members of our community.

Some have stayed and some may have left, but it's only natural as we all go through our individual creative journeys. We're still honoured to be part of or to have been part of your adventures with analogue photography! To kick off this series, we'd like to showcase @satomi and her lovely photos taken with the Diana F+.

@satomi was one of Lomography's most active pioneers, who enchanted many because of her experimental instinct. She took photos of her travels, her friends, and herself, using a variety of cameras and films. Her phenomenal self-portraits were shrouded in mystery, whether in colour or black & white, multiple-exposed, grainy, or blurry. Of course, it's also worth noting that she's a lovely model who is comfortable in front of the lens.

It didn't matter whether it was on instant film, in 35 mm, or in medium format—she'd gladly try them all. She captured her memories with the Diana F+ in all her plastic-lensed glory: soft-focused, vignetted, lo-fi. With this camera there were no limits—she used masks she'd done herself, amplified the colours with slide film (and cross-processing them), and distorted perspectives with lenses.

And, in true Lomography fashion, she embraced the "imperfections"—crunchy grain, blurs, light leaks and all.

Lomography Pioneers is an ongoing tribute to our earliest community members, whose stories and photographs helped shape our thriving online community into what it is today—diverse, creative, and inspiring. See the Lomographers we've featured so far!

written by shhquiet on 2021-12-09 #people #medium-format #square #vignettes #diana-f #cross-processing #lomopioneers #lomography-pioneers