Simeon Smith: First Impressions of the Diana Instant Square

All-round analogue stalwart Simeon Smith took the Diana Instant Square out around the sunny streets of Wales and talked to us about this brand new edition to the Lomography family.

Hello Simeon how are you today?

Currently lining up my third double espresso of the day, so everything's looking great!

We lent you a very early prototype of the Diana Instant Square, what did you choose to shoot?

I've been wanting to do more portraiture work, so I took the opportunity to contact a couple of local stylists, Dan and Lindsey, who both always look quirky and killer. I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing with the camera first though, so went for a coffee near the estuary to get to know the camera by shooting the boats there. Dud shots hurt my ego much less around inanimate objects than around people I've asked to model for me! The shoot with Dan and Lindsey went really well too, and we ended the evening with a pint in my favourite pub, The Park Inn in Mumbles.

Does shooting instant change the way you approach a photograph?

Not the way I shoot, no, but it does change the way I interact with people. It's really lovely to be able to go through the shots with the people you're taking photos of straight away, and come up with further ideas for what might work together. It gives the model the confidence to try new things, seeing what you've already accomplished. Instant feedback is severely lacking in film photography, so that makes a nice change.

What were the highlights of the Diana Instant Square?

The interchangeable lenses! I love both the original Diana lens and the Superwide lens and use them all the time on my Diana F+. Having both of them rendered to a new format was wonderful! I also really like the way the telephoto looks on the Instax film, and the vignetting of all the lenses is amazing on instant.

What other analogue adventures have you been up to?

I'm spending a lot of time hovering near a 3d printer, trying to do justice to a build of Dora Goodman's new camera. I've never done anything like it, but am really enjoying the process! I also recently shot a music video in London for Andy Hunter using old 1960's cine lenses mounted to digital mirrorless - I didn't forget my analogue heart though, and some shots from the Lomography Lomokino and an old Lomo135bc made it into the video too! Have a look here.

To see more of Simeon's work visit his website.

2018-09-04 #équipement