Moments in Analogue with Julie O'Brian

Julie O'Brian covers all bases of photography styles, from professional looking portraits using the LomoChrome Turquoise and LomoChrome Purple films, to fun and frivolous snaps taken on the Fisheye No.2 or LomoKino camera. Julia's style is varied and vast, but one thing is for sure, she loves to shoot analogue. We talked to Julie about her journey into film and she gave us some tips on shooting with LomoChrome Purple.

Photos by Julie O'Brian

Hi Julie, please tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Julie. I am an artist and photographer based in Ireland currently living out west in Galway by the Atlantic Ocean.

I studied Fine Art Print at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and I am interested in all things creative including philosophy and music. I collaborate with a lot of musicians on album art and press shots and have worked in set design in the film industry and also as a color consultant in interior design.

Photos by Julie O'Brian

How did you get into shooting on film?

I was interested in photography from a very young age and was encouraged by a family friend who gave me my first DSLR at age 12. It was a Canon 20D and I still have it. I got into film as I fell in love with the tactility of the process. Scanning negatives is like uncovering memories in my brain, I can spend hours doing it and don't notice the time go by. I always found that photography helped me make sense of the world, because to go out and take a photograph you have to intentionally consider the light and the subject matter. You then have frame it and set the apperature and shutter speed appropriately. I found that, with photography you are finding a select moment out of an infinity of possibilities, which to me is nearly the opposite of Fine Art where you're creating everything from a blank page.

Photos by Julie O'Brian

You clearly like to shoot with lots of different film and cameras. Do you have a favourite film and camera from this selection?

My favourite camera is my Canon AE1 Program. My great uncle in Japan gifted it to my mother for her 21st birthday so I have a very sentimental attachment to it. He's been living there for 70 years as a Catholic Priest. It was very special getting to visit him in Tokyo in 2018 and capturing a photo of him on my favourite film, the LomoChrome Purple.

Photos by Julie O'Brian

You have a lot of great shots taken with the LomoChrome Purple. Do you have any tips for anyone wanting to shoot with this film?

My advice for shooting LomoChrome Purple: take photos of red things! I love how red tones look on this colour shift film, as they don't change as much as other colours. I enjoy shooting it on sunny days for lovely rich tones and usually keep the ISO around 400.

What's coming up in 2023?

My plan for 2023 is to keep working on as many creative projects as possible. I love to collaborate with musicians, dancers, poets and anyone who is willing to share creativity with. I also hope to finish my LomoKino film about eggs.


To see more of Julia's work visit her Instagram page - pizza_egg.

2023-02-09 #gear #people #community #uk #fisheye #ireland #lomokino #lomochrome-purple #lomochrome-turquoise #pizza-egg

Mentioned Product

Lomography Fisheye No. 2

Lomography Fisheye No. 2

See the world through 170⁰ of fabulous Fisheye distortion. Our Fisheye cameras use regular 35mm film. A built-in flash can be switched on so you could have more coverage in underwater depths or even at late night parties.

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