The Beauty in Simplicity: Lomography Toy Cameras

After having stumbled upon my father's baby pictures from the 60's and having watched Sofia Coppola's film The Virgin Suicides, never before has the beauty of the nostalgic and anachronistic style of photography been so acute. And while there certainly is reason to celebrate the rapid advancement of the digital camera, there stands a slight paradox to photography; where the luxury of instant gratification in viewing your images as well as the convenience of easy dismissal replaces the intricate thought behind the lens that was once rudimentary to the art... where the advancement plays as a setback.

And while the lomography cameras are a far cry from the sharp and sophisticated images achievable by the current technology, these little toy cameras have a quality that stand as grandiose contenders for the attention of photographers of all levels everywhere. Just as their photos represent the dreamy and soft images of decades past, these cameras make the photographing experience as simple and unadulterated as they were years ago. All the while it remains accessible to many in price, weight, and the creative versatility it offers.

There are many ways to describe the aesthetics of the Diana camera. While being an individual keen on the Impressionism era of art history myself, I could not help be drawn to the muted hues and the blurred, indefinite lines heavily akin to the masters like Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. It can also be described as dreamy and nostalgic, both adjectives of which are highly appealing to my ears. But on a more analytical note, the texture and tone of the photographs bring forth the life of "vignettes" otherwise noted as the lomographer's acclaimed style of small yet poignant scenes captured on camera that make it highly emotional and tangible.

I have long had my own digital camera, so my recent possession of the Diana lomo camera proved as an exciting but definitely new experience. From the shockingly feather-light weight to the entire plastic body, the Diana - like the many other models of lomography- holds the appearance of a toy camera. And with just the two back-and-forth movements of a small lever to achieve a shot, it even operates as one would expect a toy camera should. It is so simple. And in its simplicity brews the countless opportunities for your everyday milieu to become something almost otherworldly. These lomography cameras, developed in Lomographische, Austria during the 1960's, produced images with soft and hazy lines, bursts of color and light accompanied by low contrasts as well as other underdeveloped characteristics.

Despite the archaic technology of these cameras whose "flaws" resulted in the dwindling of sales in the 1980's as the success of more advance photography rose, the images of the Diana camera are now reestablished as riveting and emotional as they have made their way back into the current culture. In the return of the humble toy camera is also the resurrection of the sheer essence of photography: the expression the beauty in the every day life that the simple "point-and-shoot" mentally accomplishes with ease. The outcome of the shot is not predictable and you will not know exactly how it will turn out til you're at the development counter. However you just may be going home with a happy accident.

Citations:
Lomography Official Website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_camera
http://www.toycamera.com/diana/