#InstaPitti. A photo project using Lomo ‘Instant camera at male fashion fair, 91st Pitti Uomo

Posted on Jan 17, 2017

For the 91st edition of the male fashion fair “Pitti Immagine Uomo” in Florence, I got the idea to use the Fujifilm Instax film to create a little photo project with some of the visitors.

The idea was to photograph the guests with the Lomo ‘Instant camera, then to re-photograph them with the digital camera. The Instax film was going to be a gift for the guest while the digital picture has been published on the official website of the Pitti Immagine Uomo organization.

When I thought of this project I didn’t know how it could be the reaction. I’ve to say honestly that it overpassed my best expectations! People really loved it!
In a digital era where we are used to digital pictures seen on the screens, they loved the idea to have a printed image of themselves to take back at home. And some of them were amazed about the development process and to see the picture that slowly was going to appear in their hands!

Another great side of the idea was the fact that we have to wait about 4/5 minute to develop the film. In this way, we had to slow down the usual fast process of the digital capture. In those 5 minute, I could talk with the person I took the photograph, know a bit more about him, what is he doing and from where is coming from.
Was a great opportunity to chat with great guys coming all over the world for this amazing fair!
During this work, was nice to meet again and photograph also Mr. Scott Schuman from thesartorialist.com . You can see his picture as the last of the series.

Technically speaking, I’ve used the Lomo Instant camera. I’ve used this camera since I can add a different lens to the front native optic to get something a bit different. For instance, for this project, I’ve used the 35mm adapted to get a better frame for the photos.

About exposure of the pictures: the Lomo Instant comes with different exposure modes. Some of them use the camera’s flash automatically. For the photos of this set, I’ve used the last mode, the one that is shown as a “C” letter on the bottom dial. With this mode, the flash doesn’t fire. In this way, I was able to get a better idea of the exposure.

Let’s start saying that the Fujifilm Instax film has an Iso speed of 800. Then the Lomo Instant camera has a fixed speed of 1/125th of a second. Then the lens has a normal fixed aperture equal of f/16. Knowing this, at the end, the only one parameter that I could change for the exposure was the Aperture of the camera: I could, in fact, select with the little dial in the front, to open or close the aperture. In this way, I could get a f/11, f/8 and (but there wasn’t necessary) f/22 and f/32.
So how to judge the right exposure with the Lomo Instant? Unlucky the camera haven’t a build in exposure meter. For this reason, I’ve used my Fujifilm X100T that was set with the same exposure value as the Lomo Instant (ISO 800, 1/125″). In this way, I could see if to use brighter aperture.

To photograph back the fashionable guys of Pitti Immagine Uomo I’ve used the Fujifilm X100T. I’ve set the aperture on f/2 and focused on the Instax picture that was held in hand by the guests. In this way, I was able to capture the picture in the foreground and the man on the background with an interesting bokeh.

Here’s the complete gallery!