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I was in Singapore in April and read about this CAMERA SHOP that had FILM??!!

Lomography had me intrigued but sadly, I didn’t get to the store.  Two months later in Hong Kong, my brother and guide lead me to the Lomography store in Sheung Wan.

It is a small compact store with an amazing array of cameras but what has me far more intrigued than the product is that in 2012 a brand can flourish and build a dedicated community around a product that some said would go the way of the Dodo!!

A brief snap shot of how this Analogue Movement started:

“It began with a fateful encounter in the early 1990s, when two students in Vienna, Austria, stumbled upon the Lomo Kompakt Automat – a small, enigmatic Russian camera. Mindlessly taking shots from the hip, and sometimes looking through the viewfinder, they were astounded with the mindblowing photos that it produced – the colours were vibrant, with deep saturation and vignettes that framed the shot – it was nothing like they had seen before! Upon returning home, friends wanted their own Lomo LC-A, igniting a new style of artistic experimental photography that we now know as Lomography!”

Today they are:
“….. a globally active organisation dedicated to experimental and creative visual expression, a playful combination of lo-tech and hi-tech, and a cultural institution involved in commercial photographic and design company. We are dedicated to the unique imagery and style of analogue photography, and will continue to contribute to its development!”

This compelled me to do my own investigation and what I found was a brand totally built around the user and their experience. They recognise that they don’t have a customer, they have a community and are dedicated to supporting and building it.  And this is a dedicated community, make no mistake; in the store a wall is dedicated to Lomography User pics, there is a Community Board (below).

The focus on the user and community experience has see the product range extend beyond the camera and nowincludes, accessories for the camera and the user as well as clothing. Visit the Lomography Store here, interestingly this is for the Australian region and has recently been added, so here’s hoping we get a store soon!

They invite users to Become a Lomographer (click here to join) as “The Lomography community is the best way to share your photos, discover great Lomographs, and read the latest news from the analogue world.”

They further explain the benefits:  Why register?

Their online community is strong too, it supports the real life activity and gives a snapshot of the diversity of the product and the users.  But the real experience is to be had in real life with the camera!  They tell you to shoot fast and from the hip.  You can find a camera that suits you and your activity and share it with the world!

This is great advice from their site and features instore and in their material too: