LomoAmigo Michael Schwanzer Shoots with the Lomo LC-A+

Meet our latest LomoAmigo, Michael Schwanzer – a web entrepreneur who has recently discovered the Lomo LC-A+, and now he carries it everywhere, all the time! A digital person with a heart for analogue photography – interesting, eh? Read more about him and have a look at his amazing gallery!

Name: Michael Schwanzer
LomoHome: http://lomography.com/homes/openideas
Link: http://www.openideas.eu and http://michael.schwanzer.info
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mschwanzer
City: Vienna
Country: Austria
Camera : Lomo LC-A+

Tell the community a bit about yourself. What do you do or what do you wish you did?
I’m just a wannabe web entrepreneur trying to change the world a bit every day by connecting people with good ideas on the website http://openideas.eu. The Internet gives us the chance to spread ideas that are very efficient around the globe and I wanted to build a tool that supports publishing and collaboration of those. Just like opensource for Software, openideas should be for ideas. Improving openideas.eu is now my main focus after I finished my studies, having my final exams in 3 weeks. I am very happy doing what I “try” to do – no wishes for anything else right now.

How long have you been a Lomographer (or are you new to this whole thing)?
New? Me? Yes – very new. Haven’t taken more than 5 rolls of film so far. But I am sold! I Carry the Lomo LC-A+ around all the time =)

Wow! A digital guy in the midst of a big new analogue world! How has the transition been for you so far? How would you describe your experience with film, a camera you must wind and waiting to see your photos?!
Until some weeks ago, I just had the camera in my mobile phone and was happy how easy it is to publish those pictures I take immediately online and that I have it always with me because it is in my phone, etc. Then I discovered Lomography and started taking REAL photos. I realized that what I did before with my mobile was just documenting things, not caring about angles, light, centering, film! I was never really taking photos before I got the LC-A+ – now I enjoy it as an experience, having limits again because of the film, the waiting time until it its developed and then the moment you hold them in your hands. HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS – that was quite new to me =)

Now that you are shooting with a different perspective what do you think about when you shoot a photo? What is it about capturing an image on film that you like?

Photography must be magic – you can actually make a slice of time yours! A perfect moment on a square piece of plastic. It is going to be there forever if it is developed, but before then, it can be destroyed forever by something as beautiful as a sunbeam. As well, I have found slide film! I did not know that there is something like that out there. It gives a shot very a special kind of color called “awesome”. Furthermore the texture is amazing it must be some kind of 3D ninja magic happening there.

So you like online communities, you like taking great shots with slide film, and you like to share your ideas and passions! What do you think about the Lomography Community then?
Haven’t poked around on the Lomo community online too much so far … will do that now (note to self: update profile). But, the real world community seems splendid. Lomography connects people, if you see someone on the street with a Lomo camera, you can be sure that you can say hi and talk about cameras & pictures with them. Don’t try that with digital camera strangers. As well, strangers will ask you about this cool camera you got – even while changing the film in the tram, because they haven’t seen that in a while. Lomography brings people back together in the real world because they can see that they have something in common. At openideas we try something very similar, we give people something (a tool in this case, not a camera) to offer encourgament to others with a common passion or goal.

Describe the LC-A+ in five words.
No, need, for, digital, camera!

If your photos shown here could have a soundtrack of three songs, what would they be (song title & artist please).

Picture yourself somewhere right now with your Lomo LC-A+ camera and a sack of film, surrounded by people you love in the most inspiring location you can imagine… where are you?
On a spaceship? On a tropical island? On Mount Everest? At TED Conference? Don’t know really, I guess if I have my friends, my Lomo LC-A+ and a sack of film with me, it does not really matter where we are…

What are your planes like for the near future? Anything exciting you would like to share with us?
In times of Youtube, Facebook or Myspace people think that setting up a business online is all about being bought by Google. But my plan is why not have a stable service for other people (just like the little Italian place around the corner that you like so much) which you really want to run on your own cause you love to do what you do. That is what I do right now – just no one orders pizza from me yet. But in the future I look forward seeing my tool helping others with their ideas.

Your advice to future Lomo LC-A+ shooters.
Just shoot it! You can do no wrong with this camera. Get some slide film (my tip), good weather and look forward to the awesome feeling when you hold the developed photos in your hands. I never thought I could take pictures like that and believed you need Photoshop anyway to get those results. This camera thought me a lesson.

Which is your favourite photo in the album & why?

Showing Yppenplatz in Vienna that is under refurbishment right now and looks abandoned, but is it, really? It is just this angle that shows no people but actually it was very busy all around the construction site. Looking at the photo makes you think there is no one there, but reality it was different. Taking a picture lets you choose the angle and it can be quite powerful to NOT show things.