Lomography’s International Cookbook of Film Soups & Recipes (Part I)

On an analogue high for Film Photography Month? In the spirit of experimental creativity, we gathered some of the most tasteful and remarkable film soups and brews prepared by film photographers around the world. Many of these special recipes use particular ingredients commonly found in their respective locality, adding extra flavor and punch to these concoctions.

Satiate your creative cravings with these quick and easy recipes and formulas.

Refreshing Japanese Lemon Juice & Dish Soap Formula

The Lomography Japan team often has an eye for the avant-garde and offbeat when it comes to analogue aesthetics and processes, so it's no surprise at all for them to come up with this zesty film soup recipe using Japanese lemon juice, dish soap, and hot water. The team used an already exposed yet undeveloped Lomography Color Negative 400 35mm film and soaked the roll with the mixture of the abovementioned ingredients. Afterward, the film (no rinsing or washing) was then transferred into another container overnight. The last step was rinsing the chemicals off and have them dry with some silica gel for a week.

It's a simple mixture that yielded acid neon splashes across the exposures, bright pinks and yellows ever prominent thanks to the acidity of the lemon.

Signature French Soak: The "Clic Argentique" Brew

Lyon-based YouTuber and film photographer Myya from the Clic Argentique has been practicing analogue photography for more than 12 years. On her YouTube channel, she's been giving tips, techniques, and experiments with film photography, To celebrate her journey with analogue for Film Photography Month 2021, she gave the signature French red wine a personal touch.

Inspired by the mulled wine, her recipe, the Cliq Argentique Film Soup uses the combination of inexpensive 400ml red wine, 1/2 clementine, 4 cloves, 1 tbsp. of cinnamon and 1 tbsp. of lemon juice, altogether boiled, and then cooled at room temperature. Next, the films (1 exposed and 1 unexposed roll of Lomography Color Negative 400 35mm) were soaked in the brew for 5 to 7 hours. After that, you can load the unexposed film on your camera and shoot to your heart's content.

The red wine-infused film brought some graceful, warm red casts that look extra stunning amidst blue and black spaces with the unexposed and pre-soaked film. Meanwhile, the film which was soaked after exposure gave subtler results, which would be perfect for those wanting minor tonal changes.

Feel free to make your own renditions of film soup! As Myya would put it, "I think that there are as many film soup recipes as there are photographers!”

Italian Film Pasta with Amatriciana Sauce

Test out the savory Amatriciana recipe from our very own LomoGuru and photographer Simone a.k.a. simonesavo. In honor of Film Photography Month, he came up with the Film Soup Amatriciana recipe for the cookbook. He marinated a fresh and unexposed roll of Lomography Color Negative 100 in his special amatriciana sauce, mixed in with guanciale, pepper, and pecorino, all contained in hot water.

Here are some of the savory and colorful outcomes from the film pasta. The experiment emphasized the vivid tonality of the Lomography Color Negative 100, perfect for creating a warm and hazy summer mood.

Fragrant Film: Thai Traditional Perfume Solution

Thai photographer Prin Tumsatan a.k.a. 35mmindeed shoots a lot of lifestyle and portraits. Hence creating the ideal ambiance through colors and gradients is important. For their film recipe, they used a Thai traditional perfume (นำ้อบ) and a roll of LomoChrome Metropolis. The fragrant liquid is made out of flowers like jasmine, sage rose, and bread flower, and then mixed with herbs and spices. The fragrance is very much imbued in Thai culture, as it is used in various Thai traditions such as weddings, funerals, or the Thai New Year (Songkran). This water often appears in a light yellow tint.

The results of this meaningful recipe made sublime wonders on the LomoChrome Metropolis, giving a faint, warm, and sunny glow on the usually cool palette of the film. Some of Prin's shots have a blushing, rosy tint in them. Subtle yet powerful, the aesthetic of the photos gives so much justice to this significant ingredient.

When getting your soaked films developed, inform your film laboratories about the film soup or recipe to ensure that the chemistry of your experimented films won't be compromised.

Which of these analogue preparations do you find appetizing? Ready your ingredients and browse Lomography’s collection of films for your particular recipe needs.

written by cielsan on 2021-04-28