Zoltán Borsos: Monochrome Moments on Instant Film

Lomographer Zoltán Borsos (AKA @z-borsos) previously shared with us his instant photos from hiking trips close to his home in Hungary. Since then he has continued to use his Lomo’Instant Automat Glass as his primary way of sharing daily adventures and recording memories. Most recently he has shared these black and white shots taken in Slovakia. We caught up with him to find out more about his ongoing passion for instant photography.

Hi Zoltán, and welcome back to Lomography Magazine. Tell us, what attracts you so much to instant photography?

There are so many aspects of instant photography that I instantly fell in love with. That was some kind of a forced solution for me at the beginning of Covid. Local labs closed for a while then and I just couldn't develop my 35 mm films. So I bought a Lomo'Instant Automat Glass Magellan camera and a photo film scanner. Since then, this temporary experiment has become a real passion for me. Perhaps the simplicity and also creativity of instant photography caught my attention the most.

What made you decide to shoot these photos in black and white? And how do you feel about the results?

Curiosity always drives me to try new things. That happened this time too. I think the monochrome imaging puts the story into the center even more and makes it more elegant too. I enjoy this point of view.

Did you have a plan when taking these photos? Or did you just go out and have fun finding things to shoot?

When it comes to photography, I don't really have a plan or a specific goal. Basically, I like to travel, visit new places, get into new situations and take my camera everywhere I go. I don't really search for a subject, I just go with the flow and keep my eyes open.

You have tried out several other Lomography cameras including the La Sardina and Diana Mini. Do you have a favorite among them all? How does the Lomo'Instant Automat Glass compare?

Since my whole passion for Lomography and analogue photography started with a La Sardina, it is probably my favorite. I took part in great adventures with it. The result was surprisingly detailed, spontaneous, and expressive. I then had an exhibition of these La Sardina photos at the Lomography embassy in Budapest in 2016. It was a very exciting time period.

Each camera type has its own character and point of view, so I wouldn't really compare them. Although speed is a huge advantage of direct positive technology, instant and 35 mm negative techniques are completely different genres, as I see it. It's worth trying them all anyway.

Can you tell us more about where these photos were taken?

In the past few months I had the opportunity to travel a couple of times to my girlfriend's hometown, Kostolná pri Dunaji (Egyházfa), which is 20 kilometers from the Slovak capital, Bratislava. Basically, I'm more like an urban person, but the natural environment there was very inspiring. Erika and I have visited some exciting places around there, but perhaps one of the most interesting locations was Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum and its little island. Minimalistic atmosphere, simply beautiful!

Do you have any future plans or goals for your instant photography?

I would like to edit a photo book from my color instant photos. Then I would like to return to 35 mm negative photography in the near future, but I feel that my Lomo'Instant Magellan camera has a permanent place in my backpack. You never know!

Many thanks to Zoltán for sharing his work with us. Keep up with all his adventures on his Instagram and LomoHome.

written by alexgray on 2023-02-21 #gear #people #slovakia #black-and-white #monochrome #instant-photography #lomo-instant-automat-glass