Lomo Life: The Future is Analog, Book I: The Cameras, Book II: The Story

This two-volume set tells the cheerful East-meets-West tale of Lomography, a movement inspired in the early ’90s by the compact, affordable Lomo camera. The text is wonderfully informative and the images burst with Lomo’s trademark freedom, fun, and chance. As told in book two, U.S.S.R.-based LOMO (Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association) engineered the feisty Lomo LC-A camera in 1982 after discovering Japanese mass-market compact point-and-shoots. Upon mass production in 1984, it became a hit behind the Iron Curtain, and the LC-A emerged as a prize export after the fall of the Berlin Wall. That’s when artists from Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and beyond toted the cameras on early expeditions to previously forbidden destinations in Western Europe. Lomography shows and gatherings now take place the world over, from Cairo to Hong Kong to Kenya. The two volumes’ inclusive photography-for-the-people tone reflects the movement’s free-thinking spirit. Group photos of Lomographers invariably capture their glee and ethnic diversity, whether at St. Petersburg or the Great Wall of China. The plucky Lomo itself has come in many versions over the years, including video, as shown in book one. Like Volkswagen Bugs and Converse Chuck Taylors, it has become a beloved, endlessly customizable icon. The collection showcases photos as highly colorful conversations: spontaneous and prolific. 599 color illus., 1,026 color illus. (Apr.)