Community LomoAmigo Japsix and Her Four-Lensed Analogue Love

Dasha Altabaeva, more popularly known as japsix in our analogue community, is in love with everything Lomography. She dreams of going to a lot of places with her lovely analogue babies — most especially her beloved SuperSampler camera. Take a look at her fantastic lomographs and read more about her film ventures after the jump!

Name: Dasha Altabaeva
Country: Russia
Occupation: I work in a magazine as a fashion department producer.
LomoHome: japsix

Tell the community a little bit about yourself. What do you do for fun and is it the same thing you do for a living?

I was born in a beautiful city of Sevastopol. After graduating from high-school, I went to Moscow to study graphic design and as it usually happens I stayed there. So for the past 9 years, I’ve been living in snowy Moscow. Still Sevastopol is a very important part of my life. This city is not only very dear to me – it is one of my greatest inspirations. It’s not hard to notice, that most of my photos were taken in Sevastopol or somewhere near the sea.

I love taking photos near the sea! Everyone looks SO beautiful near the sea, I guess it’s because the sea makes you real and at the same time makes you truly happy! As there is no sea in Moscow, I try to go to Sevastopol as often, as I can)) Otherwise I turn very sad and tired. If you were raised near the sea, it is hard to live without it…

Another thing I enjoy is making doubles with my lomofriends! I absolutely love writing post-cards and sending packages, all those stamps and different stickers, that cover the package at the post-office are so beautiful! And of course I love receiving packages, each time it feels like a birthday present.
I love walking around the city, book shops, meeting with friends of mine, meeting new people, ice-cream, dresses, movies, dancing, drawing and taking photos, of course, and a lot of other things.

Here are some of my first Lomo-shots taken using my SuperSampler:

What got you started in Lomography/Analogue Photography? And when did you start? What was your first Lomographic camera? How was your experience with it?

I started Lomography in 2005. To be honest, at that time I knew nothing about it. I just saw some photos taken with a SuperSampler and instantly fell in love with them! My boyfriend ordered me one and we went to Sevastopol for a 10-day vacation. I was crazy about the camera (well, I’m still crazy about it). It was buzzing, I didn’t have to care about the finder, I could move my hand, while taking a photo and the sweet cord, that rewinds the film… oh… I was SO happy!

As the weather was sunny, all 10 or 15 rolls I shot during the vacation came out bright and beautiful! I really enjoyed the result and continued shooting with my new plastic “friend”. Then one day I registered on Lomography.com, started to learn more about cameras, films, cross-process, doubles… Each time I found a new beautiful lomohome, it inspired me to try something new. One of the first LomoHomes I fell in love with was disdis (first I thought he was a female, as he had a photo of a girl on his “wall”), grad (who helped me a lot and patiently answered all my questions about cameras and cross-process), mephisto19, vicuna, adi_totp, and many others.

That is how I bought my second lomocamera, and then one more and another one. Then I won an ActionSampler and a Holga in contests, organized by Russian Lomography Embassy. So now I have a lot of different cameras. Still one thing didn’t change: I rarely shoot in Moscow. I can’t explain you why, maybe because of the lack of sun and bright colors… I don’t know.

How do you describe Analogue Lifestyle?

For me analogue lifestyle is about enjoying life, noticing everyday wonders around you, making discoveries, making new friends and feeling truly happy!

You have a good roster of Lomographic cameras. Which one is your favorite and why?

In my mind, each camera is unique and best in its own way. I absolutely LOVE the SuperSampler. This is the only camera which shows the world around you exactly like your eyes do! For example, when you are resting on the beach, you see a piece of sky, a piece of sea, some sand or stones and a part of you neighbor’s body at the same time, and this is exactly what you will see on a photo, taken with the SuperSampler! No other camera can do it. Spinner will show you everything around you, but in a way your eye never does.

My new “friend” — the Lubitel 166 B — is so beautiful (my dad gave it to me on my birthday this year)! Pictures made with it look so smooth and detailed at the same time… mmmmagic! And of course I love my LC-A+, it is fast, handy, reliable and unpredictable!

It looks like you travel a lot. Tell us the places you’ve been to and which country/city do you like best. Why?
Oh, really? In fact I haven’t been to so many places/countries, as I’d like to. Hope I can travel more in the near future. Except for my beloved Sevastopol (I have written several lomolocations about it), the place I’d like to tell you about is Tbilisi, Georgia.

Here are some shots of Sevastopol:

But in fact, I have already written a LomoLocation about this wonderful city, too. Since that day, I have visited the city 3 more times and I really hope that I’ll be back soon! I’m absolutely sure, that this is one of the most beautiful and welcoming cities in the world and the local people are incredibly friendly, kind and cheerful! Now when I have a lot of friends in Tbilisi, the city feels almost like home to me. I love Istanbul for its colors, streets, cats, food, sea and stunning archeological museum!

One more trip, that impressed me much, was my trip to the Seychelles. I call them the paradise islands! Never before have I seen such beautiful nature and the light there is so special,makes you wanna take a picture of everything you see! The house I lived in was surrounded with huge mango trees and some gorgeous flowers. I had 3 cameras with me and I was shooting non-stop!

Giant tortoises on the La Digue island, Coco de mer, a species of palm that grows only on the islands of Praslin and Curieuse (sometimes nicknamed the ‘love nut’ because of its suggestive shape, the coco-de-mer is the world’s largest seed), huge smooth granite rocks in white sand, tender ocean… oh… if you have a chance to go there, take it!

Here are my photos from Tbilisi and Seychelles:

Can you also share with us your strangest, funniest, or best Lomographic experience?

A couple of years ago I was in Sevastopol and together with my mom went to the local market. We were in the meat department, scary and fascinating at the same time place! You know, all those big knifes, white aprons covered with blood…

I had a SuperSampler with me, so I decided to take some photos. I took it out of my pocket and started moving my hand along the counter. Saleswoman, 2 of her neighbors and some customers, who stood next to me suddenly stopped talking and drew their eyes to me and my buzzing plastic friend, a look of complete confusion on their faces. My mom, the only person except for me, who knew what was going on, giggled by my side.

Then after a few moments of silence one of the customers asked me in a very demanding tone: “What is it? What are you doing?” While I started mumbling something about film camera, he continued: “Is it some kind of a device that measures radiation? So how is the result? Is this meat safe?” And suddenly everyone around me seemed to breathe freely again, customers asked me if the meat was good or not, saleswomen claimed to prove, that it was very good and no one absolutely no one wanted to listen about analogue camera!…

So all I could to do was to play along and state, that everything was ok with radiation level and everyone could buy, whatever they wanted. Unfortunately, the photos didn’t turn out very good as there was not enough light in the market. Still this is the funniest lomographic experience I ever had.

If you could take your camera and a sack of film anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?

Oh… I would go everywhere! Haha! Sri Lanka, to see the magic cave paintings in Sigiriya and Dambulla Cave Temples. Then, I’d love to go to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and some other countries in that region. I’ve seen so many stunning shots taken in these places and I’m in love with them!

Another dream is Japan, New Zealand, Italy, and Scotland — and many many others! I’m sure I will visit all these countries one day, I just hope, those days come soon.

Tell us something about you’ve been doing lately, like your latest project.

I was making doubles with my dear friends: Ivan from Sevastopol (lomovan) and with Bruno (pepper-b). Some more doubles with Satomi (satomi), JB (jeabzz), and Val (cyan_shine) are on the way.
The results of our double project with Bruno you can already find on our LomoHomes.

What can you tell people who want to try Lomography. Any tips?

Lomographic cameras love the sun: this is the only thing you have to always keep in mind! I think it is good to start shooting when going on a holiday, preferably in some sunny places. It guarantees you bright, colorful, and interesting shots! First of all, when you are in a new place, you see much more than in your hometown and you are much more attentive! And you are happy and relaxed when you are on vacation! As a result, you get nice photos!

The SuperSampler, the queen of multilensed cameras, is now in black. It takes four sequential panoramic shots on a single, action-packed 35mm photo. See all SuperSampler colours and designs in our Shop!

written by basterda on 2011-11-28 #people #japsix #lomoamigos #lomoamigo #community-lomoamigo #dasha-altabaeva