lizabethlacey photography

There was a time when I wasn’t taking a lot of photos.

I was in a creative holding pattern.

I was expressing myself in other ways but not really fully engaged.  I see that now.  What did it take to get me to where I am today, to this blog, to my new relationship with photography?  A toy camera.  No bells and whistles just a simple analogue tool to remind me of why I fell in love with the photography in the first place.  My first toy camera was a fisheye, which eventually lead me to the Diana F+ camera.  Playing with the Diana F+ was like seeing a long lost friend- it just clicked (sorry for the pun).  It also introduced me to Lomography and celebrating analogue.  Lomography is “a global community whose strong passion is creative and experimental analogue film photography”.   Lomography is about being in the moment, trusting the process and allowing (and celebrating) unexpected outcomes. I learned Lomography’s   10 Golden rules and was excited to find a photography community that believed in the process as much as the product.

Lomography’s 10 Golden Rules are as follows:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.

2. Use it any time – day and night.

3. It is not an interference in your life, but part of it.

4. Try the shot from the hip.

5. Approach the objects of you desire as close as possible.

6. Don’t think. (William Firebrace)

7. Be fast

8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.

9. Afterwards either.

10. Don’t worry about any rules.

And so it began, my new journey with photography.  I shot only with my Diana F+ for a couple years before I got back into the digital world, which I am still learning to balance with my love for analog.  I can say with confidence that it was Lomography and my Diana F+ camera that reconnected me not only to my love of photography but to a part of myself I almost let sit on a shelf.