21st Century Lomography

Capturing today through decade old expired film

By: Evan Lee
May 27, 2024 | Photography, Mixtapes

35mm Color - A South Coast film inspired mixtape

The very first photos I ever shot on film came as somewhat of a joke.

It’s late 2023 and my best friend Leighah just picked up a brand new DSLR - a $400 Panasonic Lumix.

I enthusiastically said something along the lines of “wow, that must be top of the line for that price!” And then I was just as enthusiastically chastised about the true cost of professional photography.

Leighah is a passionate photographer, her shots with the Nikon D3500 we had at our student newspaper were award winning. But obviously, she couldn’t take a Gatepost camera with her after graduation.

And even though her new job at the time reporting for Wareham Week on the South Coast didn’t require a DSLR, she wasn’t about to settle for cellphone photos either.

So that’s where the Lumix came in, something on the more affordable side with its built-in zoom lens, but still capable enough to keep up with her high standard of quality. She hit me up to ask if I’d tag along for a test run with it at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford.

Naturally, I immediately said yes. I’m always up for another adventure with her. But then I facetiously added that I’d be bringing along a camera of my own to compete.

How exactly, though, would I possibly try to take on a $400 DSLR wielded by an award winning, professional photographer like Leighah?

Well, with a $1 disposable camera that expired 13 years ago of course.

The DSLR vs the disposable... like bringing a butter knife to a gunfight

I found it while thrifting a long time ago and it had just been sitting in my desk drawer ever since.

Loaded with 27 exposures of 35mm film, which should have been shot by December of 2010, this seemed like a now or never moment to finally let the old thing do what it was made for.

And in the David vs Goliath-esque photography showdown that ensued... yeah it should go without saying the former didn’t win this time.

Leighah’s DSLR performed exactly as we’d expected it to, capturing even the most minute details of the zoo animals from afar.

From the glossiness of a cougar’s eyes to individual feathers on a vulture, everything is there to see in crisp digital detail.

Courtesy Leighah Beausoleil

Meanwhile, many of the shots from my little point-and-shoot didn’t even capture anything at all.

Nine of its 27 exposures turned up completely blank on the negative reels I got back after developing the film. A travesty that I initially chalked up to shutter issues on something that was well over a decade past its prime.

But then more shots were undoubtedly ruined by myself as I accidently covered part of the lens with my thumb.

Maybe the blanks were fully covered by me being an absolute novice

All said and done, only 12 shots actually developed into anything worth looking at. Compared to the hundreds of high quality shots Leighah took on her Lumix, and yeah there was never any competition here to begin with.

Yet, those few photos I did manage to take do have a certain charm to them.

“Of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy”

For as much of a joke as the little old disposable camera was, the results are quite unique. They’re really unlike anything a modern digital camera could ever produce, even with filters.

Warmly colored with a yellowish green haze, they have a one-of-a-kind look to them granted only by use of a well aged roll of film.

Are they professional? No. Especially not when compared to everything Leighah took.

Could they even be considered remotely decent photos? Well, some are certainly better than others, but overall the quality is still lacking.

So how about just the way they look then. Kinda cool at least, right?

Oh yes. Definitely.

They’re lomography at its core, the art of just having fun with a cheap old film camera and seeing what comes out of it.

Paired with expired film that’s decayed in all sorts of mysterious ways, you never know what you’re gonna get. The surprise is the reward at the end.

But I wouldn’t know how they looked until after I shot a second roll with another camera - had to justify the cost of sending them in for development.

Use before December of 2010 and March of 2008

I’ll go ahead and say it right now - film is a much, much more expensive hobby than cassettes.

The lab I sent my rolls to, The Darkroom, charges $16 per disposable camera and $13 per roll of 35mm, then another $6 or so to ship back the developed negatives. And that’s at their cheapest rate for standard scans with no physical prints.

They do a good job, but man, those development costs are more than what I paid for both of the cameras I used to shoot the film, as well as the film itself in the first place.

Granted, the next camera was only $4 and also from the thrift store. But it was a bit more professional than the $1 disposable.

Four times more professional, if I do say so myself.

It was an original Pentax IQZoom from 1986. And, according to the owner’s manual that still came with it, the “World’s First Fully Automatic Compact 35mm Camera With Power Zoom Lens.”

I’d take advantage of that on my next photography adventure with Leighah at New Bedford’s harborwalk, stretching around the city’s hurricane barrier and passing by landmarks like Palmer Island and a dock where new wind turbines were being assembled.

The film I was running with this time was a roll of Clark Color that I also picked up while thrifting. This one only came with 24 exposures but at a sharper ISO 200 speed. And it expired in 2008.

There would be no risk of lens thumb this time as the camera had actual grips to hold it correctly. Its automatic film winding mechanism also worked smoothly throughout the entire trip, despite being almost 40 years old.

The results were far, far better than what I was able to capture at the zoo.

With sepia tones and natural vignettes, the photos look straight out of a postcard rack from the 1960’s or 70’s. About the only thing proving that otherwise is a shot of my hatchback from 2010.

The apple green paint job is still very 1970 though

Looking at these shots is like seeing the world of today through a lens from decades past, through this oddly nostalgic haze even though I still remember everything as just happened not too long ago.

My actual memories are more true to what Leighah captured on her DSLR.

Crisp, clean, and clear.

A shot from Leighah, then a shot of Leighah

While the photos from my Pentax exist in a more mysticized reality.

One that invokes the same sentiments that real old photos do - glimpses into some long gone world that can never truly be experienced.

Except I did experience it because I was one behind the camera.

So it’s a false nostalgia you get with lomography. Same as 21st century cassette culture.

But that doesn’t mean these old hobbies have to be left behind to the eras they’re most known for. It’s still fun to bring them into the present and enjoy them alongside the modern passions they went on to inspire.

Just like Leighah and I did with our cameras from two very different eras.

My favorite photo from whole harborwalk trip is this: a moment with Leighah, hair flowing and about to take aim with her modern DSLR, caught on 35mm film.

Right next to the digital shot of the same scene, it’s a perfect encapsulation of old hobby meets new.

And it’s also the photo that inspired my latest mixtape and j-card art.

Pursuantly, the music I chose for the mix is also modern but grounded in genres of the past.

Side A features the retrofuturistic synthwave sound of Mitch Murder, an artist who’s work is heavily influenced by 1980’s sci-fi and pop culture.

Then Side B takes on the ever popular lo-fi hip hop beats of Potsu, whose known for splicing classic jazz piano together with modern rhythm.

Fully instrumental with a mostly relaxed vibe, it’s the type of music I like to put on in the background to help myself stay focused on something, like writing this blog.

And being a gift for Leighah to remember our film adventures by, I imagined it could be something she’d enjoy too while writing up news stories or editing photos for work.

Though, there are a select few vocals I mixed into the songs too.

We’re also more than just best friends now :)