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Thursday, April 27, 2006

LomosexualI've been into Ipswich this morning to attend East Anglia's cultural event of the year - the Ipswich Lomographers' Lomography Exhibition of all things Lomographic. To the untrained eye, it may have looked like a room full of photos above a kitchen gadget shop, but to me it was a whole lot more than that. It was a chance to visit Oxfam too. And may I say I got a very nice Next top for only £3.99.

But back to the exhibition. I have to say I was impressed. And not just with my ability to find my way up two flights of stairs, past a wooden spoon display, and through the right door. The gallery itself is housed in the attic of Lakeland, Britain's leading purveyor of egg whisks, which is about as close as you can get to the cultural heartland of Ipswich. As it turned out though, it was actually very nice, and not just the kind of attic where you'd tie up your grandmother for the weekend.

The sign on the door warned me that there was a limit of forty people in the gallery at any one time, so I was tempted to call up the stairs for a headcount, but in the end I decided they'd get more publicity for their work if the ceiling of the oven glove department collapsed onto an amateur cook, so I went ahead and climbed the stairs. As it transpired, they were approximately 38 people short of the limit, so everything was ok, and no chefs were harmed by my arrival.

As for the photos themselves, well needless to say the best of them were all by Crash (I'm contractually obliged to say that), although I would have appreciated a warning before I turned the corner and came face to face with George's two-foot wide grin, blown up to life-size proportions. Talking of which, I sent Crash n Donna a small gift yesterday to help with their child-rearing efforts, but after seeing the photo of Dyl playing conkers, I'm not sure they're going to need it.

Anyway, the other highlights for me were a photo of some mannequins by someone called Jay (I wasn't sure at first if they're male or female, but fortunately my dictionary informs me that Jay's a bird), a black and white shot by Liam (not only male, but mail spelt backwards), and a multi-exposure one by someone I've forgotten the name of. Although naturally I know nothing about Lomography so you should disregard everything I've just said.

They were all pretty good though, especially when you see them enlarged to full size, and dangling from the ceiling like Christmas decorations. Not that I'd suggest you try to get them all swinging at the same time - that would be wrong. Although in my experience, the two people on duty do go downstairs from time to time, so the opportunity's there.

Anyhoo, I can recommend it, and it's well worth the price of admission (which, incidentally, is free. Unlike the Buttermarket car park, which is now demanding a frankly outrageous £1.40 an hour). So get yourself down there (in groups of 40 or less) before Saturday.

Right, must dash - I've got a sudden urge to shave my cat.

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