The mid-2000s was the toy camera phase of my photographic career. The world of Lomography and toy cameras was new and exciting to me so for about a year, I was primarily shooting on a Holga or some other type of toy camera with a plastic lens.
What I love about toy cameras with plastic lenses is the soft and lo-fi look it provided. This photograph of my friend Alex is probably one of my favorite toy camera photos I've taken. It was shot inside the cafe area of the Arclight Cinema theater on Sunset Blvd. and what I love about this lomo photograph is that his posture, along with the Holga's plastic lens, gave this image an almost ethereal look and feel.
I was inspired by the lomo heavy scene of Flickr's early days and an exhibit inside the lab I was using at the time which was A&I in Hollywood. A&I is no longer in Hollywood and I'm not sure if they're still around. Last I heard they had a spot in Santa Monica and then Burbank. It's been a long time since I've heard news of them sadly. They developed the roll this photograph came from. I hope they're still around. Film processing labs are becoming scarce these days.
"Alex's aura" / 6x4.5 medium format cross processed Kodak Ektachrome 64T / January 2007