The Fantome Hour on Lomography Films

Joshua West, a.k.a The Fantome Hour, is an avid film photographer and Lomographer. Starting his creative journey with our Berlin Kino 400, and making his first ever film purchase to be our Fantôme Kino B&W 35 mm ISO 8, Joshua hasn't stopped exploring the variety of our film collection. We wanted to know more about his work and what Lomography means to him, so check out our recent conversation below!

Hey Joshua, welcome to the Online Magazine! May you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi! My name is Joshua, also known as The Fantome Hour, and I’m a photographer out of San Antonio, Texas. I’ve been a photographer for a few years now and focus heavily on film photography. I’m mostly focused on portraits, but I occasionally hop into street and travel photography when the inspiration for a shoot is still on its way. Fun fact, I got my photography handle off the first roll of film I ever bought which was Fantôme Kino ISO 8!

When did you first press the shutter button?

A friend of mine had been trying to convince me to get into film photography so he bought me a roll of Lomography Berlin Kino 400 and I ended up picking up a Canon A-1 to shoot it with. I really had no idea what I was doing at the time but I liked a lot of the shots taken with the film so I figured aww heck why not. We went out in the neighborhood and I saw some deer and hit that shutter button and I haven’t looked back since.

How did Lomography films become one of your staples? What drew you to them?

I started using Lomography films because I had a friend introduce me to them at the beginning of my film journey. Even though I had the opportunity to try other films, I always came back to Lomography because of the personality of what they had to offer. My biggest artistic influence comes from the B-movies of the 50’s and 60’s and the personality of Lomography has that same DIY energy.

I still need to get a hold of some Turquoise because I have a few ideas on how to turn the color shifts into a Cold War era alien creature feature!

What message do you hope to convey with your photography and style?

For me, photography is like any other art form in that it has the power to bring out all kinds of emotions from the viewer. Because of my B-movie influences, I want to use a lot of that aesthetic to generate any emotional responses and just allow the person viewing them to live in those emotions. Often when we see something we ask the question of what the artist was thinking when they made a piece, but I’m always more interested in how a viewer’s reaction to a piece reveals a lot about their experiences. I hope that in viewing anything I’ve done, a person can feel their own emotional response and validate it.

Do you have a favorite out of this series? If so, can you tell us the story behind it?

The portrait on the LomoChrome Metropolis at 400 speed is probably my favorite. When I come up with a concept I like to bring the model directly into it by doing a sort of “tennis match” dialogue. It started with Makenzie sending me old photos of Yakuza and the two of us batted the idea back and forth. She’s a fantastic collaborator. Eventually, we created this story about a delinquent skipping school who comes face to face with her doppelganger and gets bloodied up. That photo is the final shot of the whole set. I remember putting it up in a show and having a local critic stop and stare. They were unaware I was the photographer and he told me “I don’t know how I feel about this but I know it makes me uncomfortable”. It got a good laugh out of me.

How do you challenge your creative vision?

For me, the biggest way to challenge is to just go into something I’ve never done before and just do it. A lot of my photosets are like that where I add something new every time, whether it be new equipment or new film or trying out a new story idea. I never want to be in a position where I say “well I’ve done this and it worked so I’ll just keep doing it this way.” Instead, I want to constantly try bigger and better and just be a better photographer than the person I was a day prior.

What are you up to at the moment? Anything we can expect?

Oh I am always working on something! This year I plan on really pushing the boundaries of what I can do with my own vision. I have had a few models reach out and we’ve discussed different projects, from stories pulled from Greek mythology we want to reenact to anime-inspired frames to taking the traditions of boudoir photography and injecting horror into it. It’s going to be a fairly busy year for me and my collaborators!

Is there anything you would say to those looking to get into Lomography products?

Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or you just picked up a film camera I’d say remove the word “can’t” from your artistic vocabulary. Lomography film gives you the room to create your own vision the way you want it, but you won’t get the results you’re seeking by thinking something can’t be done. It absolutely can and as long as you’re willing to make it happen you can grab a roll of any film Lomography has that catches your eye and make your vision a reality.

Thank you Joshua for sharing with us. Find more of his work via his Instagram and website.

written by kaylalew on 2022-03-15 #gear #people #redscale #lomography #metropolis #lomochrome-purple #berlin-kino-400 #fantome-kino-8 #the-fantome-hour