Community Amigo Tony Sykes Gets Dreamy with the Diana F+

In this series, we talk to film fanatics from all around the UK about their passion for film photography. Today we meet Tony Sykes from Newton Aycliffe who tested out the Diana F+ for the first time.

Name: Tony Sykes
LomoHome: tonysykes
Where I Live: Newton Aycliffe, United Kingdom

Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’ve been doing photography for roughly 8 years now, starting in digital photography and since then I’ve been working with a number of different film formats. I’ve amassed a collection of over 20 cameras both film and digital. When I first started I was more interested in cinematography, but I liked the challenge of telling a story or emotion with just a single image, though I’m hoping to get back into making films.

Where did your love for film photography start?
It started shortly after I first started doing photography. A friend of mine gave me an old camera he found in his attic, a Prinz Mastermatic III. From loading the film, adjusting the shutter speed/aperture and winding the next frame, it was all a lot more tactile and hands on than I’d experienced with digital photography. Then came waiting for the film to be developed, the anticipation, not knowing what your photos will look like. I like having a limited number of shots, it makes me really think about what I want the final image to be.

What are you favourite cameras and why?
My Holga is one of my favorite cameras, it introduced me to Lomography. My Polaroid OneStep Closeup, was my first instant camera. I love my Lomo’instant, it gives a whole new world of possibilities to my instant film. But I have way to many to choose from (Over 20 cameras).

Tell us a bit about these photos?
This was my first time using a Diana, so I went to a few places I’ve shot in past. I tend to take a lot of pictures of trees, the vein like structure of the branches always looks good on film I’ve found. There’s this old structure in a field, an old water tower I believe, I’ve shot that numerous times before.

If you were to invent a new film camera what would it do?
I’ve always been interested in older cameras with interesting mechanics, like cameras that use bellows or twin lens reflex. I’d like to see a modern take on the old large format cameras. I would also love to see a revival of Super 8 in the same way medium format and instant film is becoming popular again.

2016-05-23 #people #film #soho #lomohome #amigo #london #uk #diana-f #lomoamigo #community-amigo #tony-sykes