Analogue Austin
The future is analogue: Austin welcomes Lomography to town
Film is on its way back and the new Lomography store on Congress Avenue (just a block away from the Capitol) is here to make sure you jump in on the fun. The store, set to open early December, will not only sell the plastic film cameras they’ve become famous for, it will also be home to a gallery and photo lab.
Lomography, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is a style of artistic experimental photography. Created in Austria by a group of students who discovered and experimented with the Lomo LC-A, a Russian toy camera. They found that the vibrant colors and vignettes that bordered the photos were like nothing they had seen before. After returning home, friends were requesting Lomos of their own and that’s where it all began. With store front locations all over the world and a strong online community of photographers sharing their photos and tips it's clear to see that Lomography has brought a fun sense of wonder and excitement back into the analogue world. See The Ten Golden Rules Of Lomography for more information.
Last Thursday night the Lomography Gallery Store Austin, still bare bones with beautifully exposed stone walls and boxes of inventory stacked in a corner, threw a Faux-Fancy Party to unveil two new cameras recently added to the Lomo arsenal: La Sardina Czar and Beluga. The two cameras are redesigned and created out of metal (not the norm for Lomo cameras.) The nautical engravings on the Beluga and explorer engravings on the Czar are spectacular and make these two special editions perfect for those looking for the fancier in life.
The newly appointed Austin team, lead by Cameron Russell the Lomography territory manager, are clearly passionate about what they do. With sometimes more than two cameras swinging around their neck during the night, they gave mini-demos, talked technique and explained Lomography to those who were new to it, but in a way that didn't seem like they had a job to do, it was more like they just couldn't help be excited and enthusiastic about the company they work for. And we can't help be excited to finally have a Lomography store in town.
Welcome to Austin Lomo!