Contact
Lomographic Society Internationalwww.lomography.com
Hollergasse 41
A-1150 Vienna
Tel.: +43-1-899 44 0
Fax:+43-1-899 44 22
Mail: congress@lomography.com
The Lomography World Congress London 2007
London, United Kingdom, 17 – 23 September
LomoGlobalEvent 1997-2007
The story begins: 1997, a few years after the founding of the Lomographic Society International, the first Lomography World Congress was held in Madrid. At this occasion, we announced the big LomoGlobalEvent 1997-2007 and invited all Lomographers to take part in the realization of the utopian Lomographic dream: to create the biggest, all-embracing, most diverse and colourful, most authentic and spectacular Lomographic portrait of the surface of the world, of all times. Ten years, and innumerable projects in all parts of the world later, we have come to close proximity of this ultimate vision: nearly one million Lomographers have participated in the creation of what has lead to the LomoWorldArchive with almost 5 Million pictures up to date.
Lomographers' Prime Call
So now the time had come for the appraisal of these endless, meticulous, playful, deadpan, passionate, documentary visions of hundred thousands of people and their lives from all corners of the earth. It was time to reap the harvest and present the results of a decade worth of systematic collection! With this in mind, we called for the whole Lomographic community and our friends from all over the world to ransack their secret archives, to get back out there in all ardency and work that trigger-finger to turn their very best shots into LomoWalls, which we then processed to be part of the biggest exhibition in Lomographic history: the LomoWorldWall with 100,000 snapshots.
LomoWorldWall on Trafalgar Square in London
This momentum, the presentation of the fruits of more than a decade worth of Lomographic activities, compulsorily asked for an exceptional showcase platform. The Lomographic Society was invited by the London Design Festival to inaugurate this year's festival with the big LomoWorldWall on Trafalgar Square. The LomoWalls produced by Lomographers from all over the world, whether submitted via the online competitions, created during one of the numerous summer events for the local communities of the international Lomography Embassies, or finished during other interactive projects in cooperation with cultural institutions, were all part of the exhibition. Moreover, various artists from all continents, ranging from film and video artists to designers, photographers, painters and sculptures, media designers, and more, were assigned to take part in special projects in collaboration with Lomography. The Lomography architecture and archive team then integrated the sum of this artwork in a LomoWorldWall of impressive proportions to be presented on Trafalgar Square under open air.
Lomography World Congress 2007
Such a bold venture naturally demands a conference of the extraordinary: The seventh Lomography World Congress was set as a tribute to the Lomographers of all times - past and present realms - and was dedicated to the future of Lomography, with the modest plan to issue a manifesto of the Lomographic mission in the decade to come.
This year's congress not only presented the breathtaking LomoWorldWall, but also came with a week packed in enthralling Lomographic city exploration and a spree programme designed for the restless curious and gregarious crowd of the world’s Lomographers and the like, who are in touch with this world in one way or the other. An exorbitant crew of the world’s pick of the bunch Lomographers, a squad of the craziest, most creative, most colourful, most sophisticated and ever so critical individuals from all parts of the world: the over 200 participants from abroad, and equally many locals, surrendered to the repertoire of both enchantment and challenge that this Lomographic-masterpiece-event was bound to bring.
The congress programme featured a wide range of interactive Lomographic activities and oodles of spine-tingling events. Special Lomography Workshops provided insight into the hottest Lomography expertise and the chance to experiment beyond the borderlines with the crème de la crème of Lomographers, while collaborating in the continuous growth of the Lomographic world image. The attendees were introduced to London by highly condensed and exhaustively commentated strolls through the styles and lifestyles of the city and draconian treasure hunts through resplendent and distinct locations. With these Lomographic city-challenge tours through the boroughs of London, intense glimpses beyond the facades of London and into its deeper aspects, as well as a wild chase around the city was guaranteed, with pictures to take, people to meet, clues to find and mysteries to unravel. And last but not least the congress introduced a number of serious lectures, speeches and discussion forums on and off the issues of Lomography, as to invite all congressionals to take part in the development of the manifest for the Lomography decades yet to come, based on the results of these forums (And get right to our proposal of our big goal in time for the LomoWall exhibition in 2017: a 2 kilometre long LomoWall with 1 Million Lomographic Snapshots!!)
The brains behind the tours and workshops were Lomography-affiliated experts and artists, doyens of the scene and individuals familiar with this city of challenges per se; the pathfinders of our city adventures were people who devote their lives to the scrutiny of social and cultural phenomena and, of course, have their own very special Lomography history.
Amongst the lecturers and workshop leaders were personalities with a global perspective such as Publisher Edward Booth-Clibborn, Gerald Matt, Director of the Kunsthalle Wien (read Gerald Matt?s 95 Theses on Analogue Photography here), Manu Luksh, maker of the film Faceless, inventor Martin Reinhart and his theory on Lomography and Eternity, as well as Lomographic expertise Michael Kuhle, Adam Scott and Nik Ninety.
Growing LomoLondonWall & the final bash
The compelling programme also inspired participants to contribute their images to a growing part of the LomoWorldWall exhibition on Trafalgar Square. All images produced during the London Congress were judged by an expert jury and the submitted LomoWalls successively added to a growing part of the exhibition. The final LomoLondonWall was presented on the last evening of the congress, on September 22nd, which also featured the congress bash at a big Lomo-Boat-Party with a line-up of serious talks and superb performances, which honorary ended this year's prime international event.
The Lomographer as a Designer
In response to the invitation of the London Design Festival 2007, under whose patronage the exhibition of the LomoWorldWall took place, we have asked ourselves about both the definition of Design, as well as the correlation between Lomography and Design. The conclusion of our thoughts resulted in appointing the statement “The Lomographer as a Designer” as the overall theme of the project.
The Lomography movement was conceived as a democratic way to enable individuals to dare enter the world being revealed, while allowing their very own creative perception, and thereby create their own image of the world. Fifty percent of the international Lomography community are people with creative background, the other fifty percent, too, have been sensitized through Lomography to involve themselves in the goal of collectively creating a platform for communicating and enjoying the world’s beauties.
And what could there be more that is a broader foundation of the definition of design.
The idea of design essentially paraphrases the creation process. The Lomographer is a person who uses Lomography as a tool to enhance their creative abilities in order to document, invent and narrate their own and others’ lives in the world through images. The Lomographer’s aim is to absorb the incidents of the world, to be open to the facts, the people, the forms and the stories of the life around him. Thus, his action itself is a process of design and his creation becomes a product of design in the context of the community’s ongoing work and as a contribution to it. The united documentary work of the Lomographer stands for a perpetuating artistic manifest.
Browse through the Lomography World Congress London 2007 Photo Diary to view the documentation of the congress week.
Contact congress@lomography.com for more information.