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Lo-fi photography ("lo-fi" meaning low-
Lo-fi photography uses film or digital photography techniques to create more of a soft, unusual look to photos compared to the crisp and high definition photographs that standard photography aims to provide. These lo-fi images can be any combination of distorted, soft, hazy, under/over exposed and in any way unusual. Often, creating these images is unpredictable and the final image may differ significantly than what the photographer intends. Lo-fi photography does not seek perfection; instead it revels in the unpredictable nature of the world and of the camera. For instance, light leaks,
File:Viewing Gallery from the Statue of Unity.jpg, Underexposed
fidelity
Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London f ...
, referring to "any process which fails to achieve the accuracy and 'transparency'") refers to unconventional photographic practices, chosen for aesthetics, which give an impression of low quality. Popular techniques include the use of toy camera
A toy camera is a simple, inexpensive film camera.
Despite the name, toy cameras are fully functional and capable of taking photographs, though with optical aberrations due to the limitations of their simple lenses. From the 1990s onward, th ...
s or pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture (the so-called ''pinhole'')—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image o ...
s, for their distinctive stylistic effects. It can be considered a reaction to the perceived ease of creating technically perfect photos in the digital age. Some emphasize a return to film, while others use digital technology to accomplish the same effects. Low-fidelity photography has also been commonly linked with lo-fi music as well.Details
Lo-fi photography uses film or digital photography techniques to create more of a soft, unusual look to photos compared to the crisp and high definition photographs that standard photography aims to provide. These lo-fi images can be any combination of distorted, soft, hazy, under/over exposed and in any way unusual. Often, creating these images is unpredictable and the final image may differ significantly than what the photographer intends. Lo-fi photography does not seek perfection; instead it revels in the unpredictable nature of the world and of the camera. For instance, light leaks, vignetting
In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation toward the periphery compared to the image center. The word ''vignette'', from the same root as ''vine'', originally referred to a decorative border ...
, and incorrect exposure can be sought-after if it helps the photographer achieve their desired effect. Lo-fi allows the photographer to take photographs without thinking and then choose the ones they like. This is what makes lo-fi photography enjoyable.
Creating lo-fi photography is also cheap and can be done with any low mega-pixel camera, or any cheap film camera. Toy cameras or disposable cameras can be used. This is especially good for traveling because it is cheap to replace if broken or lost. However, there are specific cameras for purchase that can be used to create lo-fi photography.
Since it is a low cost, minimal training type of photography, it is no surprise that lo-fi photography was discovered more prominently through Instagram. However, the low budget cameras and lack of needed equipment make it an easy type of photography to produce for up and coming photographers looking for an outlet. This style of photography is less of a straight edge photography style, and more of an art style, making the images taken hard to place in a timeline, with no other use other than to appeal to the eye. The clouded lens is reminiscent of art styles that many painters have used in their works, and many people are drawn in by the similarities of the photography to hand-drawn art forms.redscale
Redscale is a technique of shooting photographic film where the film is exposed from the wrong side, i.e. the emulsion is exposed through the base of the film. Normally, this is done by winding the film upside-down into an empty film canister. ...
film photograph with light leaks (bottom left)
File:Hong Kong Street Lomography Slide Xpro Lomo (169732527).jpeg, Photograph showing the effect of slide film
In photography, reversal film or slide film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base. Instead of negatives and prints, reversal film is processed to produce transparencies or diapositives (abbreviated ...
cross-processing
File:DowntownLA.jpg, View through a fisheye lens
File:Shoestand with pink color filter.jpg, A film photograph using a colour filter
File:Homemade pinhole camera.JPG, A homemade pinhole camera
File:Klutz (5822691040).jpg, A cheap film "toy camera" with fixed focus plastic lens can be used to create lo-fi images
See also
*Toy camera
A toy camera is a simple, inexpensive film camera.
Despite the name, toy cameras are fully functional and capable of taking photographs, though with optical aberrations due to the limitations of their simple lenses. From the 1990s onward, th ...
* Pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture (the so-called ''pinhole'')—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image o ...
* Instant camera
An instant camera is a camera which uses instant film, self-developing film to create a chemically Photographic processing, developed print shortly after taking the picture. Polaroid Corporation pioneered (and Patent, patented) consumer-friend ...
* Redscale
Redscale is a technique of shooting photographic film where the film is exposed from the wrong side, i.e. the emulsion is exposed through the base of the film. Normally, this is done by winding the film upside-down into an empty film canister. ...
* Cross processing
Cross processing (sometimes abbreviated to Xpro) is the deliberate processing of photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film. The effect was discovered independently by many different photographers often by mist ...
* Sprocket hole photography
* Outsider Art
Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...
References
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