Our Favorite Film Accidents

There's a common expression that goes, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," and such wise words are meant to be taken to heart even for the Lomographer. Film photography is full of success, failures, trials, and errors. But most importantly, it's full of surprises. The mistakes you've made may not be mistakes after all. Here are some happy accidents we love seeing in our Community gallery.

Magnificent Mistakes

Some of our favorite cameras have their own quirks and oddities in which additional care and preparation must be made prior to shooting. And then there's just that day where we tend to forget such things. It can be quite frustrating when the things we've planned do not go our way, but these spontaneous mistakes and surprises are part of the Lomographic life., Lomographer @tristan_gevaux forgot to tape the little rectangle on his 126 cartridge before exposing his film, but he embraced the results as enigmatic abstract shots!

Accidental Doubles

Are you the type of photographer who lets a roll of film sit on their camera for ages before developing them and forgetting that you already exposed the film? There are a lot of accidental doubles among the Lomography Community, but many of them always turn out far more interesting than the intended clean shots. These street doubles from Taipei-based Lomographer @vanc180sx give more of the hustle-and-bustle vibes with all the visual noise, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

The Chemical Providence

Experimenters in the Lomography Community are no strangers to this one. Being the first advocates of the DIY culture on film, trial-and-error is part of their analogue routine. These neon images from Lomographer @antmark are a result of a little incident in his own film lab. He confesses: "Have you ever wondered what happens when you expose color film -2 stops, process first with Rodinal 1:100 for 10 minutes then continue with c41 developer for usual time (without pushing), bypass bleaching and only fix as usual? Tell you what, this happens."

We are definitely digging the pop art feel, though!

Light Leaks Forever

If there's one happy accident every Lomographer will agree on, it's probably the light leaks that surprise them in some of their developed rolls. Usually, these are caused when the seal of the lens isn't tightly closed or accidentally opening the back of the camera. Nonetheless, these light leaks on @roxyvonschlotterstein's LomoChrome Turquoise film shots make them even more surreal.

Have you experienced a happy film accident with your photography? Share your shots by commenting them below, or upload them to your LomoHome!

2021-07-11 #culture #film-photography #film-accidents