Newcomer of the Week: sandy-sun

Aside from developing his own black and white negatives, he also crafts pinhole cameras out of ordinary boxes. His dreamy, soft-focus lomographs even inspired some of the community members to go lens-less on their next photo shoot. Let’s get to know more about our newcomer of the week from Sheffield, United Kingdom, sandy_sun!

Name: Tom
LomoHome: @sandy_sun
Location: Sheffield, UK

Please tell us something about yourself and what you do.

I’m 34 years old and I work as an engineer in manufacturing research.

I started using film around 20 years ago when my father passed his Zenit E to me. The camera went everywhere with me and it really helped me in learning photography fundamentals. When digital photography became affordable, I spent a good few years with it.

In recent years, pinhole photography has been of a particular interest. It’s really fulfilling to find or make a box from odds and ends then use it to make lomographs. The results can sometimes be rather unpredictable, which for me adds the uncertainty and surprise that I relish.

A few years ago I had a darkroom, but this took too much space and time and with a baby boy on the way it had to go. However, I still develop black and white films, then scan the negatives.

How did you find the Community and who/what convinced you to join?

Years ago, I remember watching a BBC documentary about the history of Lomography. I’d never heard about it before then. The documentary went through the discovery and use of the Lomo LC-A. It was then that I remembered the Zenit my father gave me years ago that he replaced with an LC-A. He only had the LC-A for a year or so before it was stolen and replaced with a Pentax point-and-shoot. Looking through the photos that my Dad shot with the LC-A really confirmed everything that was mentioned in the documentary.

As you have read the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography, what rule do you apply in your everyday life?

Rule # 8 (You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.) and Rule # 9 (Afterwards either.) are the reasons why I love shooting film. Using pinhole cameras with no viewfinder really makes these two rules a reality.

In this digital age, why still film?

As mentioned above, I love the unpredictable results that sometimes come with using film in experimental ways. It’s also a great feeling when you hold the negatives up to the light for the first time in weeks or months and remembering what was shot and when was it taken. It’s the waiting and surprises that makes film more attractive than instantaneous digital photography.

Your favorite analog camera as of the moment? Why?

My favorite at the moment is the Konstruktor as this was given to me as a birthday gift. Still on the first roll but I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes out of this little camera.

What is the Lomographic camera you’d want to have someday?

Definitely looking into buying a LC-A. The Spinner 360 is on the wish list too.

Any song or movie you live by?

I don’t think I really live by any song or movie but “Fresh Feeling” by Eels has a particular resonance with me.

Share your current favorite Lomograph, could be yours or a friend’s. Why?

I don’t really have any favorites. There are fantastic lomographs posted here everyday.

But one that stands out for me when I first saw a few years ago is this shot by @mandi taken with the spinner 360.

It is really cool and it had my mind in a knot for a while, figuring how it was achieved.

Any Community member you look up to? If so, why him or her?

This is a difficult one. Since I’m relatively new here, it’s hard to say. I think everyone in this community is great and the photographs each member produces is inspiring and interesting in one way or another.

What are you looking forward to in our Community?

Being continually inspired and learning new skills from all the like-minded, creative folks here.

Thank you Tom for sharing your thoughts with us! Welcome to the community!

written by Eunice Abique on 2015-09-19 #lifestyle #newcomer #newcomer-of-the-week