LomoGuru of the Week: mikahsupageek

You might have already stumbled upon his Home and even liked some of his shots or two – which is in fact all over the Lomography website. If his name doesn’t ring a bell to you still, then you should really stop what you’re doing and take some time to read our interview now!

Name: Mikah Manansala
LomoHome: mikahsupageek
Location: Paris, France
Number of years as a Lomographer: 2 years

Share to us your most memorable experience in the Lomographic community

I think the most memorable experience, alongside so many in the Lomographic community, was after I uploaded the Walk in the Park album and how fast this shot became so popular, awarding me with so many likes and kind comments by so many people from the community. Even today, I still keep getting likes and comments from it, thus making it a continuous memorable experience in the Lomographic community.

Have you actually met people in the community that you now consider as close friends? If yes, name at least one of them.

Yes I have. I’ve made lots of friends in the community, some I’ve met IRL, some I’m hoping to meet someday soon.

The ones I’ve met IRL are the following: the whole Parisian crew (jeabzz, adbigmilk, remiboiteux, guiguiste, fabyen, elvismartinezsmith), sebastianerras who contacted me through my LomoHome before he moved to Paris, telling me he wanted to meet once he arrived, which we did. He became a very good friend. eatcpcks and his girlfriend, superclochette who also both became close friends of mine after I invited them to stay at my apartment a couple of days during a little vacation they took in Paris, I also met backforbreakfast, even before she became a lomographer and created a lomohome of her own, we met thanks to mephisto19, who I haven’t met IRL yet, but I’m hoping to soon. I also got to meet up with zeester an afternoon during a short holiday trip she took with her family in Paris, same goes for geltona who also became a close friend with whom I chat with whenever we see each other online.

Those that I haven’t met yet, but I hope to meet as soon as possible: warning, who is likely to be the most special person to me in this entire community; fivedayforecast became also a good friend of mine, and he keeps asking me when will I visit the U.S. so we can finally meet up. And if everything goes well, I should be going to the U.S. soon, and I’d definitely love to meet satomi, blueskyandhardrock, grazie and any other Lomographers out there. Also tallgrrlrocks, juanix, born2b1ush and basterda from the Philippines, my home country.

There are so many interesting people from the Lomographic community throughout the world, and when ever I plan on travelling, you can be sure that I’ll send you a message if you live in the country of my destination.

Do you think you’ll still be taking Lomographs in the next 5 years? Why?

Yup ! I don’t think I’ll ever stop taking pictures, photography has become such a big part of me, it has opened me to new perspectives, a new way of seeing things in life and life itself. I was introduced to photography with a Diana F+ two years ago and am forever grateful to the person who gave me the Diana as a present. Just like many other Lomographers, I’m proud to say that I’m addicted, and hope to keep passing on my addiction to my friends and family.

What is your favorite Lomo camera and why? Do you have any memorable experiences while using this camera?

Hard to pick one… but since I have to, I’d say the Lubitel 166+ is my favorite Lomo camera. It was the first camera that pushed me into learning exposure techniques, with apertures and shutter speeds, and rewarded me with great photos immediately. I love its sharpness and how the the out of focus parts looks like.

I remember walking on the port of Sanary, a little seaside town, where I used to live, and seeing an old man (he then told me he was 78), pointing at me and the Lubitel hanging around my neck, his eyes full of amazement. He came up to me, and asked me if people still actually used analogue cameras, telling me he hadn’t seen a TLR in the longest time. We ended up sitting on a bench, and talking for what seemed just a couple of minutes, but was really something like an hour, telling me about his photographic past, his camera collection and the beauty of analogue photography. As we said goodbye, he told me that I gave him the courage to dust off some of his old cameras and he’d shoot again with them.

Is there any advice you can give to new analogue shooters?

As a child, my father told me something which I didn’t fully understand at first, but now I’ve come to realize that it applies to everything in life. He told me: “Son, if you make a mistake once… then it’s fine, just as long as you learn from your mistake.” So my advice to new analogue shooters would be: Make as many mistakes as possible because we only learn from our mistakes!

They are the ones whose passion transcends not only by what they do and say, but also with what they see and capture with their film cameras. And with such attributes aforementioned, they are what we call LomoGurus! Every week, we get to ask questions and reveal some insights with the most talented and productive of all Lomographers from the community!

written by fookshit on 2011-10-28 #lifestyle #interview #community #feature #q-a #lomoguru