"Upside Down": A Film Swap Project by Lomodesbro and Oleman

Lomographers Olle Pursiainen a.k.a. oleman and Des Brough a.k.a. lomodesbro have known each other on Lomography for years now. Both live at the opposite ends of the world. Olle is based in Finland while Des lives in New Zealand. Often joking about how both of them live on opposite ends, Des suddenly had an idea to do a film swap.

According to Des, it all started during a heatwave last December. Sitting in his airconditioned room in Townsville, Des thought of suddenly starting a film swap with someone living in the middle of a northern winter. Des confided with his friend and fellow Lomographer Lorraine Healy a.k.a. lorrainehealy about the idea, which further convinced him to do it. After reaching out to Olle, things started to set in motion.

The theme Upside Down comes from the colloquialism "down under", which refers to Australia and New Zealand. Des took colorful photographs of his summer in North Island. Olle meanwhile took images of winter imagery and exposures of a model globe for a nice touch tot heir theme.

The collaboration resulted in very kaleidoscopic images with both seasons contrasting each other. Both loved the outcome and mutually agreed that the film swap further solidified their friendship. Analogue truly bridges the genuine artists together. Des says:

"Film swaps can bring people closer together. You have to find some shared interest together and agree on the point of the swap. If I initiate the swap proposal then I feel like a host and am mindful to leave plenty of space in the frame for the other person. If I accept an invitation to a film swap then I do my best to add value to that swap."

After a long winter of black and white, Olle's looking forward to spring and more color pictures, while Des is looking forward to collab with Lorraine with two film swap projects. We're definitely looking forward to their next photographs in the near future.

Thank you so much, Des and Olle! Got any analogue projects with fellow Lomographers? Let us know through the comments below!

2020-03-06 #culture #news #people #film-swap #color-photography #scandinavia #film-photography