16 September 2010

Do you ever miss the feeling of excitement just before picking up your developed roll of film from the photo processing store? Wonder how your shots would turn out and hoping you framed the picture just right?

Shot of Bali's Kuta Beach taken with a Holga 135BC

With the advent of digital photography and cheap photo editing software, those concerns are now things of the past. Modern cameras come with in-built software that helps you take the perfect shot, but what if you want to do things the old-school way?

The Holga 135BC, the master of shadowy vignetting.

Creates mysterious images with dramatic effect.

 

Enter toy cameras, so named for their plastic exterior. These cameras seem to be the answer, and they are a trend that is sweeping through Asia, particularly popular among the young and trendy. Two main players exist, namely Lomography and Superheadz, both with their own offerings to satiate the photographic passion of lomographers. These unique cameras, both film and digital, open up a whole new world of creative photography, and unlike modern digital cameras which give you a perfect shot every time, lomography is more like an adventure, a trip into the unknown. With a wide range of cameras from the inexpensive Holga 135BC to the wild and wacky (and also more expensive) Spinner 360, lomography enthusiasts will surely find a particular camera that appeals to them.

Lomography Embassies can be found all over the world and they have become an international socio-cultural movement using photography as a creative approach to communicating, absorb and capturing the world.

Singapore is, of course, not one to be left behind, and Peek!, one of the city’s newest lomography stores, is working with a number of local celebrities and personalities as well as Superheadz to put together an interesting photo and video installation exhibition entitled, “Mini Mori Video Trees”. The exhibition will run throughout the month of October.

Superheadz's digital Harinezumi, the camera

used as the medium for the “Mini Mori Video Trees”exhibition

The medium for the work is Superheadz’s tiny digital Harinezumi camera and participants will submit short personal video footages which will be edited by Superheadz to create a video set to music, as well as photos for a complimentary photo exhibition.

Compared to other digital cameras in the market, the small Harinezumi, shaped like a roll of 110mm film, has been thought of as an imperfect camera as it produces images and videos that remind us of photos taken with our grandmother’s vintage analogue camera. Dreamy and romantic, every photograph taken with the Harinezumi evokes something so personal that never fails to capture hearts and imaginations.

Local celebrities and personalities taking part in the exhibition include actors Hossan Leong and Jimmy Taenaka; fashion designer Keith Png; make-up artist Clarence Lee; Singapore Art Museum curator Michelle Ho; as well as professional photographers Mark Teo, Bob Lee, Bryan van der Beek and Chris Ong.

Maybe it’s about time to abandon your new high-tech digital cameras just for a while and join the lomography movement. Get your hands on a lomography camera or drop by the Singapore exhibition to get a better insight into this global phenomenon.

Camera prices range from $52 to $850.

Mini Mori Video Trees Exhibition

Free admission
1 – 31 October, 11am – 7pm (Closed on Mondays)
Peek!
36 Armenian Street, #01-04/#02-04
Tel: 8181 4409

For More Info

www.peek-ture.com
www.lomography.com
www.superheadz.com

Photos courtesy of Robyn Lee and Peek!