The Lomo is a very simple camera (originating from St Petersburg, Russia), which offers absolutely no control over shutter speed, aperture and focus of the image.

The ideology of lomography is akin to that of Kodak when they introduced ‘mass photography’ at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Via the relatively compact and inexpensive cameras Kodak produced, photography became a pass-time enjoyed by everyone and not just those who could afford it [or had room in their house for a darkroom].

Kodak were the first to introduce a system whereby a camera and film were bought as one (easy to use) unit, then after the film was shot, the whole camera was posted back to Kodak and processed.

A few days later, the camera - loaded with fresh film - would return in the post ready for use again. The Lomo site has a similar system whereby you snail mail your exposed films, they then scan the negatives and upload the images to your personal space at lomo.com.

A few days later, your prints and negs arrive in the post along with a ‘goody bag’ of stuff. It’s a cool idea and one that is taking the tradition of analog photography into the digital age.

I don’t know how long it will last before hi resolution digital cameras become affordable to the masses, but there is something so appealing about this camera and analog technology is by no means dead yet.

The Lomo Action Sampler [the other camera in the Lomo range] is definitely on my list for Santa.