Lomographers Throughout the Years: Mephisto19

Lomographer Stephan Kaps, popularly known as @mephisto19 in the community, is a master of quirky portraiture and mind-boggling multiple exposure photos. As a rule breaker, he employs several photography techniques to bring out the personality of his subjects personality and redesign the world in line with his creative vision.

Name: Stephan Kaps
Username: @mephisto19
Year when you joined Lomography: 2005 (???)
What keeps you busy now: Now I am busy with work and things considered “grown up”, like the house, the dog, and dry wines. During my time as an art student at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Germany, I was focused on analogue photography and extracting time into different layers of photography. But also researching on the difference between analogue and digital photography, though I still think the last should not be called “photography” but “sensorgraphy” (link to my discussion on this, German only so far). That are thoughts that keep me still busy, though I am not as productive as I had been. That means, I am not taking photos but only "sensorgraphs" nowadays and use Instagram and EyeEm to publish them.

Let's do a backtrack: How did you discover Lomography?

I discovered Lomography in a documentary I saw on German TV. Later I saw a drummer using an ActionSampler on stage and we talked, so that was my first Lomography camera I bought in a discounter where it was offered. It did not work that well as I did not understand it. After about two years I got myself a plastic fantastic package with ten cameras and I really started.

What was your first Lomography camera?

An ActionSampler

What's your fondest Lomography moment?

I think, winning the LomoHome of the Day award and later being one of the winners who could go to the Lomography World Congress in London, where I had the chance to meet great Lomographers from around the world I still am in contact with.

Could you share some of your earliest Lomography shots?

It is hard to choose only three and also to find the earliest ones in the flood of lomographs I have on my LomoHome.

Who were your Lomography friends back then?

I wrote a blog about the most important Lomographers, at least from my point of view. As I am not active on website anymore I do not know, if the others are, but Helen (@scootiepye), Natalie (@natalie_zwillinger), all the Stéphan(e)s (@vicuna,@stouf), Julia (@neja), Satomi (@satomi), Andreas (@anarchy), Melanie (@graefin), Ky (@kylewis), Adam (@adamscott)… There is a bunch of great photographers/lomographers out there that, with all their work and experiments, formed, what is Lomography standard right now: Film swaps, lab rat experiments, multiple exposures, manipulating film and cameras in any possible and impossible way.

What advice would you give newcomers (to the Lomography community)?

If you know about the rules and know about photography, implement it, deeply understand it so you do not have to think about the technique but are able to not think and to forget about the rules.

What does Lomography mean to you?

Lomography offered me the chance to communicate worldwide with other analogue photography lovers, to experiment and research and also validate the importance of analogue photography to the society. It is a platform to share and discuss, not to close yourself up and it offers a great deal of fun in all that.

Some of our favorite photographs by @mephisto19:

Visit his LomoHome to see more.

Have you submitted your shots yet? Help us create a global photography exhibition by sending us your top shots of your favorite places and signing up to construct your very own LomoWall. Keep an eye on the official 25 Years of Lomography site and make sure you’re following us on social media, too. From parties to exhibitions to giveaways and more, there are tons of festivities still to come!

2017-08-18 #people #25thanniversary #25yearsoflomography #25yearsofcreativeexperiments #lomographersthroughouttheyears