Around the World in Analogue: Wurstelprater in LomoChrome Metropolis by grunrader

Community member Gerald, aka grunrader , took a trip to Vienna's Wurstelprater with our LomoChrome Metropolis . In this article. he talks about his journey with analogue photography and what inspires his shots.

I'm probably one of the older Lomographers -- I first started shooting (more decades ago than I care to remember) with an Asahi Pentax ME Super, even then mostly in Vienna (where I grew up and still live) and of course, while traveling. After a few years, I then treated myself to a Canon EOS 50. Somehow, around 2000, I lost interest in photography and sold all my equipment. The following years I rather half-heartedly snapped around with digital point-and-shoot cameras. Six or seven years ago, I happened to come across the Lomo store that existed at that time in Vienna's fourth district, thus became aware of the Lomographic Society and found my way back to analogue photography.

I am particularly interested in how the years and decades have left their mark on a city - these are both the big things (buildings that are erected, eventually fall into disrepair, and are finally demolished) and the details that you see every day, but yet also overlook every day. When I have some spare time, I often walk around the city with my camera -- I usually limit myself to one lens (and one film) and try to find motifs that just fit this focal length and the characteristics of this film. Although I now also shoot quite a lot digitally, I often find analog photography with films more exciting. The results are not always as I expected, but sometimes better than I had hoped.

In the Prater (or more precisely, Wurstelprater), which was my subject for this series, I have also found very different motifs in the past - movement and static, light and colors, the technical constructions of the rides. In the album, I wanted to capture the colors of a sunny winter day and the deserted amusement park on a weekday during Lockdown. The generally cool hue and certain sallowness of the colors of the LomoChrome Metropolis was, I think, quite suitable for this.

Wurstelprater is in Vienna what in other cities is called Luna Park - it has existed since the 19th century and it has been repeatedly redesigned and expanded. There are numerous attractions (roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, haunted houses, bungee rides, go-cart tracks, Ferris wheels, and so on). Of course, everything is designed to dazzle the visitors with light and movement. Here you can always find great motifs: fast-spinning carousels, colorful flashing lights (and of course the visitors themselves, if you follow Martin Parr). Between the big, modern attractions, there are always some that have been around for many decades: a nice contrast!

On a sunny day, the colorful and often glittery decorations really stand out in the afternoon, and by all means, I'd schedule a photo walk in the early evening when everything is colorfully lit and stands out against the dark blue sky. At the moment everything is closed and waiting for the end of the current epidemic measures - but this offers other, somewhat melancholic, motives (empty squares, parked Autodrom cars, and the like).

In any case, I recommend to take a standard lens (40-58 mm) as well as a lens with a telephoto focal length (up to 20 0mm) to capture the many interesting details. Especially suitable are color negative films with strong color reproduction (for example the Lomo Negative 100) or color slide films (if you still have an Agfa CT18 in storage, you can take great photos). In winter (and now during the lockdown), you will also be able to nicely depict the technical structures of the rides with a high-contrast monochrome film.

Many thanks to Gerald for these wonderful shots and for sharing his photos and thoughts with us! Check out his LomoHome and the album Wurstelprater to discover more of his wonderful creations.

If you have already fallen in love with the LomoChrome Metropolis, you can find it here in our online store!

Want to take us Around the World in Analogue? Drop a line to ciel.hernandez@lomography.com with the subject Around the World in Analogue and share your unforgettable travels with the rest of the community! Read the guidelines here.

written by alinaxeniatroniarsky on 2021-02-27 in #gear #places #around-the-world #wurstelprater #around-the-world-in-analogue