Meet our LomoGuru: ihave2pillows

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Ed Choi regards Lomography as one of the best things that happened to him. In this interview, the latest member to join the roster of LomoGurus talks about how cross processing slide films sparked a great friendship, taking instant photos in Himalayas, and creating the perfect double exposure photograph.

Ed Choi aka ihave2pillows

Name: Ed Choi
LomoHome: ihave2pillows
Location: Kansas, Hong Kong, Oxford
Number of years as a Lomographer: Four years (I started in 2011.)
Number of years in the Community: Three and a half years

Tell us about yourself and what you do.

I’m a medical research scientist by training who designs vaccines, examines blood tests, among other things. To experience the reality of the healthcare industry on the front line, I’m currently working in the infectious diseases hospital ward.

Tell us something about your LomoHome’s name. Why did you decide to have that username?

I used to have two pillows in my bed. It’s funny because sometimes people assume that I’m a big-bosomed female.

Credits: ihave2pillows

Share with your most memorable experience in the Lomography Community.

In 2011, I visited Tibet and gave out polaroids to nomads and kids. My “Give-a-Picture” project proved to be a hit up in the Himalayas. But things got a little out of hand as crowds gathered around me. At one point, I had to run back to my jeep which gave me a high altitude sickness!

Credits: ihave2pillows

Honestly, discovering Lomography was one the best things that happened to me. It’s fun. Thank you, Lomo!

Have you actually met people in the community that you now consider as close friends? If yes, name at least one of them.

The international Lomography community has been so supportive. It’s just amazing. I have done a couple of film swaps but the special person that got connected to me because of Lomography was Steve, a print shop owner in Kansas City.

Credits: ihave2pillows

When I first started shooting slide films, nobody understood what I was trying to do. By chance, I did some cross-processing at Steve’s shop and it kickstarted a great friendship. He handprinted every one of my pictures and would take time to tell me which frames were great and why he printed them in a certain way. So right from the beginning, we had creative collaboration. Without his encouragements and advice, I wouldn’t have gotten over all the disappointing blank rolls of 120 that I had! I was so honored when he asked for my permission to hang one of my blacka and white photos of an old flour mill in his shop!

Credits: ihave2pillows

Do you think you’ll still be taking Lomographs in the next 5 years? Why?

Back in 2009, I swore never to shoot film again. A year later, I bought six Lomo cameras. So, you’ll never know. I’d love to find my own niche in the near future by exploring several themes in detail and developing my own asthetics. Shooting random doubles is so much fun, I hope I will always have time for Lomography!

What is your favorite Lomo camera and why? Do you have any memorable experiences with using this camera?

Oh, this is a hard one. The Colorsplash and Fisheye No. 2 are perfect for parties and the Spinner 360 gets your creative juice flowing. But my true hero is the LC-A+. Hitting that sweetspot between versatility and ease-of-use, the LC-A+ gives me the freedom to create without weighing me down with technicalities. I just have to make sure the batteries ain’t empty!

Please share with us your favorite lomograph and explain why you love that particular image.

Credits: ihave2pillows

That’d be this black and white infrared picture of a swamp in Everglades National Park in Florida. It has been raining all day and we had to search for alligators in our ponchos. Finally, the sun came through and for a little while those few blades of leaves were glistening. I call it “Waiting to Shine”. I love how surreal but serene it turns out. This picture divides opinions. I learned that breakthroughs come only if we move away from the mass appeal and the middle ground.

Please share a lomograph you wish you had taken and explain why.

Oh, there are so many!

Credits: sushi_9009

The first one is this magical cross-processed photo of a kid by sushi_9009. It’s a combination of the funky hat, the tension in the pose, and the overall mystique. Without seeing his/her face, we’d automatically assume that it’s a cute little kid. It makes us guess if he had bread in his hand and whether the birds got any. I still don’t get tired of looking at it.

Credits: __reiko__

Another one is this hidden gem by reiko. Normally, I’m allergic to pictures of cute-sy animals. But here, you only catch a glimpse of a cat. To me, that’s the epiphany and the essence of Lomography. It tells me that getting a higher resolution and higher definition is not the only possibility in the future. Sometimes, less is more – way more.

What’s the best photography advice you think you have given?

Double exposure can be tricky. Make sure you have a mixture of various tones and brightness. Otherwise, one image will completely dominate the other.

Credits: ihave2pillows

If there’s one song or movie that best describes your lomo life, which one is it and why?

“Days of Being Wild”, an old Hong Kong Art House movie from the nineties before any of the cast or its director Wong Kar-Wai became insanely famous. Its stunning cinematography planted a lomo seed in me long ago.

Is there any advice that you can give to new analogue shooters?

Experiment! Do what others do and then don’t do what others do. Try different combinations and see what works best. It can take a while before you get an audience. Just have fun and keep shooting!

Scritto da Eunice Abique il 2015-04-18 in #persone #lifestyle #lomoguru

5 Commenti

  1. stouf
    stouf ·

    Well deserved gurufication! : )

  2. icequeenubia
    icequeenubia ·

    Thank you @ihave2pillows! Welcome to the LomoGuru club!

  3. ihave2pillows
    ihave2pillows ·

    Thank you :-) @STOUF @ICEQUEENUBIA

  4. dudizm
    dudizm ·

    great reward !

  5. gepo1303
    gepo1303 ·

    Nice! Welcome to the lomoGuru club

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