Community Gallery: Amid the Noise and Haste

Photographers are often struck with itchy feet and the urge to capture the world. Cameras and film tucked safely in our travel bags, we answer the hunger to take a photo of anything and everything, to go from one place to another and document the journey in between. Our Magazine series Around the World in Analogue proves so, with hundreds of submissions since we started it in 2016.

But what if there seems to be no time to putter around with our cameras anymore? What happens when we're caught up in the noise and haste, numbed by the daily strife and the business of checklists or simply mental exhaustion?

In this article, we’re talking about the potential to find photos that shine even during the busiest, unexpected moments, when we don’t set out to take a photo but come up with a golden one anyway.

Lomography’s 10 Golden Rules advocate for integrating film photography into our lives without feeling the pressure to do so. Periods of creative blocks or busy schedules is perhaps the best time to let go of control. Something good will always come around again!

One of these rules we’ve lived by for over 30 years now is take your camera wherever you go.

And let's not forget our evergreen mantra, don’t think, just shoot!. As this 6th rule states:

Throw your intellectual socialization overboard, let the unfiltered flow of information circulate freely, untreated and unrated in your mind. Shoot, feel, perceive and shoot, have fun; photograph whatever catches your eye, whatever attracts you, astounds you, excites you, seduces you.

Your best shots won’t be the ones you plot and plan. They’ll be the ones where you grab your camera and shoot blind, without a care in the world.

While there’s a lot of merit in taking one’s time to compose a photo and employ an artistic style of our own choice, sometimes letting the moment take us without hesitation has great benefits, too! Especially during moments of creative blocks, letting go of controlling the way we take images can show us possibilities we’ve never considered before.

One such instance where we can exercise this is during busy hours. With the upcoming holidays also comes the expectation of the holiday rush–people to see, gifts to buy, parties and gatherings to prepare for. In the middle of the rush and in living in our heads, we sometimes forget that there’s also life outside of us.

It’s always fascinating to look outside of one’s mind even for a few seconds and see our surroundings, full of life and casual interactions which could hold some magic for us shutterbugs.

Sometimes, the most memorable photos are taken on a whim when we don’t have much time to compose our shots.

Breathe a little and take a few seconds to really look at something – like a flock of birds returning home, a cat lounging in the sun, people at a cafe shop blowing on hot coffee, graffiti on a street you're familiar with.

If you have a camera with you, then these scenes might inspire you to take a double exposure image, even a film swap with a fellow film enthusiast, or a simple snap to remember the moment.

And take these images to inspire you, too! These photos from our community members show how much there is around us that we can turn into subjects. Photographs can elevate a simple moment into something memorable, depending on the way we ourselves decide to see it.

Do you have a favorite photo taken in a rush? Share it with us below!

written by sylvann on 2023-12-22 #people #places #gallery #commute #community #rush #10-golden-rules