Present Imperfect

It was in the early Nineties,when two Austrian students came across a Russian camera called the Lomo Komakt Automat. When they began clicking,the results startled them — leaking vibrant colours,deep saturation and vignettes dotted the shots. They would soon fly to St. Petersburg to sign a contract for the worldwide distribution of this fantastic little camera. And Lomography was born.

In India,the community of Lomographers is a well-connected one. With close to 750 members on it’s Facebook page,Lomography,according to Partha Rao,Director,Lomography India,is more popular than it was originally perceived to be. “Many people here had heard about us earlier. They wanted to use Lomography cameras but didn’t know where to get them. Since we set up base in Mumbai,we thought it would be difficult to find Lomographers from other cities. But http://www.facebook.com/lomographyindia,our online community,has people from all over,” he says.

The idea for every avid Lomographer is the same — experimental,fun filled,hassle free photography. The intentional flaws it brings up in images is the specialty of this photography. Fashion photographer Manoj Jadhav,39, is using Lomo cameras for 10 years now,ever since he first spotted them in Prague.

“When I picked it up,I understood this was a good relief from the perfection-obsessed world of digital photography where everything could be ‘manufactured’,” he says,adding: “Life is imperfect,why should our pictures not reveal that?”

The accidental beauty of pictures leave scope for expectation. “We never know what kind of image might come out of it,” says Goel.

Lomo’s mantra is very simple — Don’t Think. Just shoot. While the number of people owning these cameras may be small compared to the size of the Indian market,it is rapidly growing and there are hundrerds of pictures uploaded everyday from India .