deepundergroundpoetry.com
Lomo
I want to say I’m not a hipster
but I’m into lomography
and old school photography
‘cause fuck digital and the easy road to anything
...except for digital editing...
and non-art related internet usage
Though maybe it’s not so hard to understand
my desire for old school techniques
when I was born into a generation
that grew up with analogue slowly drifting behind us
while digital loomed large ahead with a million promises
it couldn’t completely fulfil
‘Cause the digital age hasn’t made me a better artist
with the exception of YouTube
and Instagram… if I’m being kind
I’ve taken thousands of pictures on a Canon Powershot from 2004
and been simultaneously underwhelmed and overwhelmed
by the sheer number of images and lack of depth I was looking for
I want photography to be meaningful
I want to think about each shot
I want the element of surprise pre-development
I want to rediscover things I forgot
I don’t want pixelated perfection
I want lens flare and odd vignetting
I want blurry pictures and red-eyed flash monsters
I want the magic of waiting to see how a double exposure turns out
I want to play with things I can’t see and find myself in the unknown
So I don’t know if that makes me a hipster
but I’ll take my plastic lens and 120 film
over a digital camera any day
© Indie Adams 2018
but I’m into lomography
and old school photography
‘cause fuck digital and the easy road to anything
...except for digital editing...
and non-art related internet usage
Though maybe it’s not so hard to understand
my desire for old school techniques
when I was born into a generation
that grew up with analogue slowly drifting behind us
while digital loomed large ahead with a million promises
it couldn’t completely fulfil
‘Cause the digital age hasn’t made me a better artist
with the exception of YouTube
and Instagram… if I’m being kind
I’ve taken thousands of pictures on a Canon Powershot from 2004
and been simultaneously underwhelmed and overwhelmed
by the sheer number of images and lack of depth I was looking for
I want photography to be meaningful
I want to think about each shot
I want the element of surprise pre-development
I want to rediscover things I forgot
I don’t want pixelated perfection
I want lens flare and odd vignetting
I want blurry pictures and red-eyed flash monsters
I want the magic of waiting to see how a double exposure turns out
I want to play with things I can’t see and find myself in the unknown
So I don’t know if that makes me a hipster
but I’ll take my plastic lens and 120 film
over a digital camera any day
© Indie Adams 2018
Published 6th Dec 2018
Author's Note
So ever since I found a Polaroid 600 at my local opp shop, it's renewed my interest in photography, and it got me thinking about why I hadn't picked up a camera in almost a decade and why I lost interest in taking photos. I think this sums it up.
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The author encourages honest critique.
6th Dec 2018 3:55pm
true. there is something nostalgic.. linked to the blurs & black&whites & sepias & all such effects - all those such oddities & imperfections in anything that tends to be more natural & artistic ...aw, I may not put it as much in great way as you do in here poet. enjoyed the theme which is rarely written about. your pace of poetry is one thing that draws me ever, apart from the intense emotions that you bring in ( the emotional scope is though lesser in this piece) . thanks for the share, write on click on:)
7th Dec 2018 12:27pm
7th Dec 2018 8:14pm
I really appreciate the value of this message. I was always fascinated with old cameras, there’s just a romance in them, the stories they’ve seen and told.
8th Dec 2018 11:31am
Thank you very much night bird. There is something really beautiful about old cameras and photography. I'm glad my poem resonanted with you.
8th Dec 2018 5:30am
Not sure if this is a poem though; more a critical review of your Canon Powershot. ;-)
8th Dec 2018 11:30am
8th Dec 2018 2:52pm
Anonymous
13th Dec 2018 8:34pm
And here in lies I think the nature of human expectation, clicking and having perfection is easy there is no strive for a result, no work besides finding the photo, there is no surprise
Developing photos there is a sense of hope, a sense of purpose as if you’re achieving something of value, it’s work and in that work you find a meaning and when the photo turns out beautiful it’s a joy and when it fails it gives you something to work toward for next time
Funnily enough I could expand this out into a larger metaphor for life as we know it now..... but I’m probably engaging in sophistry and projection and maybe it’s simply a poem about taking photos 😅
Developing photos there is a sense of hope, a sense of purpose as if you’re achieving something of value, it’s work and in that work you find a meaning and when the photo turns out beautiful it’s a joy and when it fails it gives you something to work toward for next time
Funnily enough I could expand this out into a larger metaphor for life as we know it now..... but I’m probably engaging in sophistry and projection and maybe it’s simply a poem about taking photos 😅
18th Dec 2018 7:48am
Thank you Commentonly. I think they can definitely be a metaphor for each other.
I hear you, but for me it's typewriters. I know how impractical (and probably annoying) it would be, but I've always wanted to sit at a typewriter and start writing a book... just clicking away and annoying the shit out of everyone in the room :)
18th Dec 2018 7:50am
I also have a soft spot for old typewriters and record players. I don't have enough room in my apartment to justify buying one (or more) though. Camera's take up less space, which I can only kinda justify lol.
