The Camera:
I used my Olympus OM-1, which was my first 35mm camera. To read all about that camera, check out the seventeenth edition of the Twin Lens Gazette, “Soup Du Jour.”
The Film:
Lomochrome Purple was first conceived in 2021 and has garnered a cult following ever since. The funky film makes green become purple and blue become pink, with all sorts of weird color shifts in between. I first discovered it when I searched for a roll of Kodak Aerochrome, a long extinct color infrared film that turned greens into vibrant reds. It is nearly impossible to acquire true color infrared film, so this $11 imposter scratches the itch. This film works best in direct sunlight but can still make interesting photos on cloudy days. It has a variable ISO of 100-400, which allows photographers a lot of latitude when using it in different lighting situations. Lomography is a historic company that currently makes a menagerie of quirky films. I explored the history of the company a couple months ago in the twentieth edition of The Twin Lens Gazette, “Coming Full Circle.”
The Process:
This film can be developed like any other color negative film. Developing C-41 film generally involves seven steps to produce a proper negative (wash, developer, bleach, fixer, wash, stabilizer and final wash). I used a special at-home kit that shortens the process. After mixing the powder concentrate with water, the developer must be precisely heated to 102°F and the “blix” must be between 75°F and 105°F. The steps are as follows:
Load the film in a Paterson reel and tank in total darkness.
Wash the film in water that is roughly 102°F to warm it up to temperature and prepare it to evenly receive the developer.
Pour the developer in and agitate (invert or rotate the tank) for 30 seconds and then agitate for 5 seconds, every 30 seconds for 3.5 minutes.
Blix (combo bleacher and fixer) with the same agitation pattern for 8 minutes
Wash for 5 minutes in running water and you’re done!
The Results:
Lomochrome purple is a really unique and fun film. My developer was a bit exhausted, so the results were not as vibrant as usual but still turned out really beautifully. I love how the colors mimic the look of color infrared film (but with purple instead of red). Landscapes look like they’re from a Sci-Fi movie, and portraits come across as almost psychedelic.
Fun Fact:
When Lomography opened its headquarters in Vienna, Austria in 1995, it brokered a deal with the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg to get a tax break and keep the LOMO factory in the city open. That deputy mayor would go on to become the autocratic president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Keep up the good work, brother
How interesting!
I really like blues, greens, and purples so I think the se prints are lovely.