We dove right into 2020 with a Kickstarter campaign for our Petzval 80.5 mm MKII Art Lens and successfully met our target in just over 24 hours – wow – Lomographers from all over the world did that. THANK YOU.
Undeterred by the global pandemic, we released some extraordinary films too. The release of our vivaciously violet LomoChrome Purple film in 110 format was followed by the launch of two spectacular new low ISO additions to the Kino B&W Film Family – Fantôme Kino and Babylon Kino – boasting high-contrast drama and nuanced nostalgia respectively. LomoChrome Metropolis appeared in a very special Tokyo Edition outfit in collaboration with Kitamura and we also unveiled our Analogue Quartet and Analogue Duet selection film packs – the best way to try out four or two of our fabulous films, one roll at a time.
Later in the year we teamed up with a super-cool Japanese street brand and released the limited Simple Use Reloadable Camera × Challenger edition. We also launched the Analogue Aqua – Simple Use Reloadable Camera + Underwater Case – perfect for all your outdoor escapes. This was a great year for our Simple Use Reloadable Cameras, undoubtedly one of our hottest items in 2020.
We went collaboration crazy and created some of our best limited-edition designs yet. Sundae Kids brought iconic comic characters, Park Song Lee provided a painterly pastel palette, Laura Slater brought bold blue design and…drumroll please…William Klein adorned our Lomo’Instant Wide with his provocative, progressive photographs. Boom.
As if that wasn’t enough, we pulled a further two, brand spanking new inventions out of the bag. The LomoGraflok – the world’s first Instant Back for 4×5 cameras designed for Fujifilm Instax Wide, and the HydroChrome Sutton’s Panoramic Belair Camera – sweeping panoramics, thrilling and unpredictable liquid-effects and exposed sprocket holes, all in one camera.
Despite the obvious challenges faced throughout the year, the Lomography Community remained as strong, optimistic and experimental as ever. We worked hard to inspire creative minds worldwide with our indoor tipsters, tricks and DIY projects galore. We also hosted an open call for Lomography Testers on social media and welcomed some fantastic new photographers to the tester family and in between lockdowns as well as holding successful events including LomoWalks & Development Workshops with our partners worldwide – special mention goes to We Are One, an extraordinary LomoWall exhibit in Manila comprised of over 1,500 film photographs from international artists which aimed to highlight the beauty of cultural differences in times of unrest.