It all started, I think, when I first came upon an article on ‘lomomanila’ in a newspaper (was it PDI? I’m no longer sure) about two years past. It must’ve been a good one because it got me googling for lomomanila, lomography, lomo, lomo, lomo.
I was expecting for websites on cameras and photography but no, it was a whole new culture I discovered – and it was good. No nonsense artsy photography counter-culture, blaring but not glaring – gaahd, they’re all over the place – but not quite, which is exactly how they want it to be. And there I was, a mere lurker to this, this lomo phenomenon. Of course, I wanted to jump onto the lomo-wagon but where could I purchase a lomo? Being the lurker that I am, I couldn’t bring myself to ask and so I tried searching by myself – to no avail, of course. Yes I could purchase online but the sellers where all from overseas, I didn’t have a credit card, I simply had a handy reason not to get myself a lomo each time I really wanted to get myself a lomo.
And of course, the lomo fever kept on rising (without me).
I was even becoming intimidated by it. Imagine my first encounter with actual lomo prints off the wall in mag:net (some time in March this year) – was short of epiphanous, I couldn’t believe it, it was overwhelming – but the feeling, I kept to myself, because of course, the friends I was with didn’t know a thing about lomography. (Who would when Encarta defines lomo as: a Hispanic sausage: a cured tenderloin sausage?)
Revitalized by that experience, I again started actively searching for ways to get me a lomo. Incidentally, Ryan, my brother (the more serious photographer) also stumbled on the lomo trend. Now I had someone to talk lomo with. And to my disgrace, he was the one who discovered everythinglomo.blogspot.com.
My shame, but my gain, too, for now I could own my very own lomo.
