Lomography Pioneers: Creating Your Own Style With @life_on_mars

For many of the past Lomography Pioneers, one thing they have in common is their love for cross processing. This usually results in trippier colors and saturated hues, which is a favorite characteristic for many Lomographers. @life_on_mars was an avid user of this process. His creativity allowed him to make a relatively available film stock entirely his own, which can be seen through his treasure trove of photos throughout the years.

Besides this, he also used the more experimental Lomography cameras like the Horizon Kompakt and the ActionSampler series of cameras, following tipsters sent by the community and modding the lenses to create photos that he can truly call his own. Today we'll take a look at some of the photos that @life_on_mars has posted over the years and see how he used these tools as an extension of his creativity.

Using obscure and defunct films may help you get unique shots but seeing the work of @life_on_mars you can see that film is just an extension of his creativity. The Kodak Gold series is a consumer-grade C-41 film that was readily available for anyone. This film stock is known to be great for sunny days but because it has a wide exposure latitude, it is also flexible when you need to push or pull the film.

With @life_on_mars capturing a wide range of subjects from nights out, to days at the beach, to still-life objects, he goes beyond what the stock was made for and truly brings the film out of its comfort zone with great success. During his time as an active community member he even wrote his review about the Kodak Gold 200 saying that "this film is perfect for summer and the bright sun, as well as for evening shooting. It gives bright saturated colors, especially yellow and blue."

Without a doubt his go-to camera to use is the original Lomo LC-A and he has used it for a very long time. He took it everywhere, taking pictures of his out-of-town beach trips and on the streets of different places he would visit. Another thing to notice about his shots with the LC-A is that there's a playfulness with his photos. Capturing moments where he and his friends would be goofy, you can see he is quick to immortalize these blink-and-you-will-miss moments. Besides this, one of his favorite things to capture is his family and his child. The photos involving his kid were a mainstay in Lomography where many community members were always excited for an update about him.

Besides the LC-A, he has also owned a wide array of Lomography cameras such as the Diana F, (he even owns a rare Diana F+ collaboration with Wrangler) Horizon Kompakt, Fisheye No.2, and La Sardina. Even the instant back attachment of the LC-A is an accessory he has played around with.

Another thing he is known for is his use of the ActionSampler and Lomography Supersampler cameras, modding them to go beyond the 4 square format of the cameras. It was no surprise that many people looked up to him and asked for tips when it came to this camera.

Capturing his life through film, @life_on_mars was able to show the world glimpses of his world and his style of photography. Using consumer film stocks as his medium he was able to bring out so much more than what the film what designed for and push it to the limit. With his gear, he was able to make the most out of the many Lomography cameras and create iconic pictures which the community continues to fawn over. We thank @life_on_mars for being a creative and inspiring force in the Lomo Community and we hope that wherever he is now, he keeps on shooting film with the Lomography spirit.

Lomography Pioneers is an ongoing tribute to our earliest community members, whose stories and photographs helped shape our thriving online community into what it is today—diverse, creative, and inspiring. See the Lomographers we've featured so far!

written by rocket_fries0036 on 2023-08-04 #gear #culture #people #family #russia #child #portait #supersampler #actionsampler #horizon-kompakt #kodak-gold #diana-f #lomo-lc-a #la-sardina #lomography-pioneers #diana-f-mini