Dear Young Shutterbugs, I Have Nothing to Say! - A Letter from @hervinsyah

Time flies when you're having fun, so they say. This seems to apply perfectly to Indonesian film aficionado @hervinsyah's story as a Lomographer. Who knew that one connection could lead to many more friendships and tons of analogue adventures with people all over the world?

From his experiences alone we can all learn so much about letting go and having fun! In this edition of Dear Young Shutterbugs, we enter the world of @hervinsyah and hear his stories throughout his 15-year journey as a Lomographer.

Hi! My name is Hervinsyah Kusumanagara. Kusumanagara means “the flower of the nation'' in the Indonesian language. I don't know what Hervinsyah means and I’m too lazy to ask my dad! But family and friends called me Epin.

I've been unemployed since 2007 if you count me getting my Bachelor’s degree in Communication Journalism, or since 2013, if you count from when I dropped out of getting my Master’s in Communication.

For the last five years I’ve been enjoying selling cassettes, CDs and Vinyl, but it’s far from what could be called a profession.

I started film photography when I was studying Journalism in 2004 and I went on hiatus to finish my bachelor’s degree. I continued after learning about Lomography in 2008 until now. Analogue photography gave a lot to me – free cameras, free film, free developing and scanning, friends, best friends, foes, best villain!

I discovered Lomography in 2008 after I bought a Holga 135BC and Fisheye No. 2 camera from @ngoki, my classmate when I was taking my Master’s degree in Communication. His brother Teguh is one of the founders of Lomonesia, the first Lomography community in Indonesia.

My favorite memory with Lomonesia Bandung and Healthywalk is when we did a LomoWalk to Sasaksaat, the longest active train tunnel in Indonesia. It was initiated by @debi4n.

I went along with @achmad-magabutz @bebopbebop @ekeupratama @fadjaradiputra @nadeanp @tiadipramiko @vespa66 and we waited for the train to pass by at Sasakssat tunnel, right in the middle of the jungle.

From that moment until now I always did self-LomoWalks by train and got lost at unknown stations. I like places that are really strange to me.

Another favorite memory was when I snapped some of my favorite bands, Camera Obscura, when they held a concert in my hometown, Bandung, West Java, in 2010.

One of their liaison officers was @satriaramadhan who helped us bunch of die-hard fans get a chance to do an unscheduled selfie backstage. The sweetest memories were with the deceased Carey Lander, keyboardist who passed away because of sarcoma cancer five years later.

After a little bit of chit-chat with Lee Thomson about Au Revoir Simone, my other favorite band that often played at the same gigs with Camera Obscura, I told Lee Thomson if you meet them again please tell them to do a concert in Indonesia.

He just said, “yeah sure.” What an awkward conversation. But hey, eureka, four years later Au Revoir Simone came to the capital city of Indonesia and it was one of the best nights I ever had.

The last best memory is celebrating Persib Bandung winning the Indonesian football league in 2014 because we were waiting for 19 years, and sadly since 2014 we haven't won it again.

This is my best photo (below) because at that moment I had almost given up on analogue photography especially because of the economical aspect but this photo changed my mind instantly. I want to shoot with film forever.

My worst photo is this (below). I already threw this roll in the waste basket because it dissatisfied me. Then I re-scanned it at a different photo lab. When I uploaded it, suddenly so many liked and commented on the photo. So confusing, but I like that side of analogue photography, other people can see what you can't see. That's why I read the comments seriously.

My first camera was a Nikon F55 bought by my dad on February 28th, 2004 for my college task. At that time I was studying Journalism and we learned basic photography. The practice lesson was washing the black and white film and printing it with an enlarger.

My second and third cameras were the Holga 135BC and Fisheye No. 2 bought from the Lomography store in Jakarta with a big help from my classmate @ngoki in 2008.

It's so sad that I lost my Holga 135BC when I asked my mom to use it on her pilgrim trip to Saudi Arabia and she left it on a bus. Then my Fisheye was totally off when I did a self-LomoWalk during severe weather with very heavy rain.

Then I got my first prize ever at Lomography after my photo was chosen as a runner-up for Seoul Rumble held by Lomography and South Korea Tourism. The first prize was a plane ticket and accommodation to South Korea. I so envy the winner.

But it's okay. I got a camera by winning something at Lomography rumble – La Sardina Seoul edition.

My fourth camera was the Horizon Perfekt. Once again with big help from @ngoki I bought my Horizon Perfekt at the Lomography embassy store with normal price but with a bonus double pack of Lomography X-Pro Chrome 100 slide film.

My fifth camera, I got free from a Lomography Wishlist Rumble, the best Christmas and New Years rumble that I think you guys at Lomography should make again! I got my first 120 camera, the Lubitel 166+ camera.

My 6th camera was the Schmidt Tickyphot 35 camera that I bought from @ngoki with Lomofriend's price! The frame is so unique it looks like dolphin teeth, not a straight line like a normal frame if you scan it with the DigitaLIZA.

How I approach analogue photography now in the digital age...tough question. But one thing is for sure, I prefer to go to big events such as football matches or legendary musician concerts with an analogue camera in my hand.

Since I read the newspaper and TEMPO (kind of TIME magazine in Indonesia) from my dad's office in the 90s, I really admired the style of journalistic photography. It's truly the photo that everybody can snap but not everybody can be there at that moment. My favorite photojournalist is Gilles Caron. But Lomography influenced me to break the boundary that photojournalism set which is considering the multiple exposure technique as taboo.

I admire Japanese Lomographer Hodaka Yamamoto’s (@hodachrome) multiple exposure and expose-both-side techniques. His works are very neat and just perfect. I love this technique but mine are never neat and always imperfect.

Since my photo results are still not good, I have nothing to say to the younger generation. I'm sure today's younger generation has a greater influence than my generation!

Many thanks to Epin for being part of our community and sharing his photos and stories with us! To keep in touch, visit his LomoHome.

Through this series, we hope to inspire a new generation of film photographers to dip their toes into the craft and learn from the adventures and advice of some of our long-standing community members. You may read previous letters here.

Want to write your own letter? Connect with aj.bajo@lomography.com with the subject Dear Young Shutterbugs!

written by sylvann on 2023-01-29 #culture #people #places #dear-young-shutterbugs #indonesia #beginners #hervinsyah #lomography-community #dear-young-shutterbugs #apac