Hello all,
It's my first post here and I didn't think it would involve wading into a debate about the LSI but I think it's worth recounting my experience. Without a doubt my interest in photography was sparked through a chance purchase of an LCA nearly ten years ago, bought from the LSI in Singapore (when prices were still only marginally above reasonable - about half the price of now). I loved using it and went from getting through 2 or 3 rolls of film a year, to 2 or 3 rolls a month, or even a week. As my interest in photography grew the limitations of the LCA grew more apparent. I wanted more manual control of the camera, so I could get the results I wanted by design and not by chance. I got hold of an SLR, went on a photography course, joined a camera club. I'm sure that if it wasn't for the LSI (both the community as well as the LCA) I don't think I would have gone down this route. I look back at the photos I took initially with my LCA and they make me smile - they're awful but I still like them.
It's easy to see the attraction of the Lomo "movement" to a novice. It celebrates what are often technically poor shots. The shot's out of focus, blurred, overexposed? That's fine, it's Lomo - there are no rules. As a result, the movement is very open to new members, in a way in which traditional photography is not (with the notable exception of this site and a few others, although I suspect that Flickr is now a growing thorn in the LSI's side). I should contrast this with the position of skilled photographers who go back to using toy cameras having mastered the technical side first (on that note I believe that Lee Frost has written an article on the LCA in this month's B&W Photography magazine). These photographers come at it from a different perspective. They know and understand the rules of photography and further understand when they can be broken.
The LSI has been very clever by having its members do much of the marketing work for them. It's official "ambassadors" in various countries seem to work for little more than the kudos of the title and the odd free plastic camera. When it comes to marketing, the LSI calls for submissions on a particular theme or for a particular camera. The members provide their best work for free, and if the LSI uses it then the member gets paid with tokens redeemable against other LSI products - it's a fantastic business model. I've been a sucker for this too, shots of mine have been published in two or three LSI books (which are normally used to promote a new camera or bundled with it). In each case my payment (in the form of tokens) has been less than the cost of the published book. In each case I have bought the book. I'm a sucker. It's vanity publishing under a different name.
What I think is even more surprising about LSI is the way that its advocates buy into it. Any camera that is sold by LSI is automatically deemed a magic "Lomo" camera, any camera that is not is conventional, dull and boring. When posting shots to LSI I remember with amazement being told off by fellow members for posting shots taken with a non-Lomo approved camera (what happened to the lack of rules?). If anything, the members of LSI are far more self-righteous than those behind it. If I were in marketing I'd love to conduct a study of the LSI - they have a fantastic brand and a perversely loyal customer base. Even though they overcharge their customers for cameras that are readily available elsewhere......
I think the LSI has changed quite a lot in the past few years. I read somewhere that the original founders had made a lot of money but then lost it all by pumping into an ill-conceived arthouse film. Since then the LSI have gone through a corporate reorganisation and now seem to be a far more corporate and aggresive outfit. I assume this was partly due to the production of the LCA being closed down in Russia and having to source alternative Lomo products, mostly from China, in the form of cheap plastic gimmicky cameras.
Although I ditched my "lomohome" (I cringe at the word) some time ago, I picked up my LCA again recently. Ignoring the LSI hype it really is a great camera. However, without the LSI I'd never have heard of it.
David
