Emmanuel Rosario on the Set of the Electric "Nevada" With the Lomo LC-A+

A native New Yorker originally from Harlem and now living in Greenpoint, freelance photographer Emmanuel Rosario has been working as an assistant for various fashion shoots across the city. But his personal photos truly shine in his work. Living between Amiens, France, Austin, TX, Detroit, MI, New York, and traveling through the U.S, he captured curiosity, freedom, and endless adventures. He was recently on the set of Thibault Leveque's short film Nevada along with his Lomo LC-A+ to capture some stolen moments in between takes. We asked him about the movie, his work, and his future projects.

Hello Emmanuel! It’s great to have you here at Lomography. How did you get into photography?

It’s great to be here! I got into photography somewhat by chance, to be honest. When I was 14, I was applying to high schools, and none of the schools I wanted to attend accepted me. This meant I was placed in a zoned high school. Fortuitously it offered black and white film photography classes ranging from 35 mm, 4x5 to digital. After high school I bought a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P72 Digital Camera and photography became a hobby that ultimately became a part of who I am, opening doors to new places, jobs, and friendships.

Why do you still shoot film?

Film forces me to slow down and approach each photograph with intention and purpose, a mindset that I feel like I need sometimes. I would shoot so much using digital and sometimes feel flat about my work, but shooting film takes me back to the basics. There are also various kinds of film to use that all behave differently under different lighting conditions and produce colors that are hard to achieve digitally, something that I personally love and find fascinating as I am obsessed with colors. Film simply cannot be replaced and will always have a place in my heart as it was the medium on which I learned how to photograph and will continue to use for as long as I can.

What do you usually like to shoot?

I mostly like to focus my lens on those closest to me and the adventures we share but because of the COVID pandemic it has been hard to see friends, so I have shifted my lens to experiment with architecture and landscape photography. But it won’t be long until things start to normalize again in my life and I start pursuing perilous escapades.

Can you tell us a bit more about the short movie “Nevada”?

I will let my friend Thibault Leveque who was the director, screenwriter, and actor in Nevada explain: “Nevada is the story of an unreliable guy in great emotional distress who calls two of his friends to join him in the US under the guise of motel renovations. A false plan. Because there, the galleys are linked. Then begins an initiatory journey around friendship, love, trust, and reconciliation “.

How was it being on set?

It was quite exciting, working with friends is always something I love to do because we are resourceful and creative in how we approach projects. We always try to make it fun and worth our while, for us it is not always about the end product but the journey to the end product. We are a bunch of guys that like to have fun and feel free, but we also know when to work hard and get work done.

What did you like about the Lomo LC-A+?

The Lomo LC-A+ is very small and light weight camera with a pretty fast lens (f2.8) and wide enough (32 mm) that makes it an easy all-around camera for me to carry around as I like shooting at 35 mm. It also allows me to make multiple exposures with ease and the zone focusing is pretty easy and intuitive to work with.

In what settings would you use this camera?

I think would be a good, easy film camera to carry around when I am on holiday and I want to capture some quirky photos.

What’s the next project you’re going to be working on?

The year is just getting started and I have already planned a road trip to Mexico with my one of best friends Thibault Leveque. Several shoots are in the works as well for the weeks to come and I think I might finally publish my first photography book about my life on the road. For the past several years I have been trying to make a photography book and always got overwhelmed with the process or life just got in the way. So I kept delaying the work, but now am searching for a photo editor/publishing house that would want to work with me on this book. Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for sharing your work the our camera, Emmanuel! Giving you all the luck and good vibes in the world! You can watch the film Nevada here:

To follow more of Emmanuel's work, follow him on Instagram and his website.

written by tamarasaade on 2021-03-15 #culture #people #videos #color-photography #lomo-lc-a #emmanuel-rosario