First of the Roll: A Nostalgic Collection by Gérard Heinz

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The lockdown all over the world has majorly put a halt on analogue routine activities. Known Lomographer Gérard Heinz, a.k.a. gheinz admits that even he didn't feel as motivated to shoot, despite the fact he's based in the countryside. Barely half a roll finished at the time, the creative rut hitting him. For fellow Lomographers who are stuck in their creative life, you might want to take inspiration from his latest project as he curates his first shots of the rolls he's burned throughout his Lomographic life.

Credits: gheinz

Inspired by a blog article written by fellow Lomographer Marco Minetto, a.k.a. mrgamera about auto-censorship, Gérard then began this series. He cited the 10 Golden Rules of Lomography and how we Lomographers shouldn't practice auto-censorship, and welcome photography that goes out and beyond expectations. Of course, Gérard believes in only uploading images that have stories to tell.

Gérard started seeing the first frame of the rolls differently after being inspired by the Marco whom he had met in Rome two years ago, deeply moved by his meticulous and singular vision. After researching through his own albums and selecting 41 photographs, he loved how each frame tells an incomplete story that makes the viewers curious about what's to come next.

Credits: gheinz

With over 6000 photos in 300 albums, with an estimate of 200 films burned since October 2017, his collection is a fresh welcome to the Lomography Gallery. As we know by now, every first frame shot has almost half of the frame burned to whiteness. Gérard likes to respect the unique theme per album -- loves that albums have common denominators such as subjects or locations -- hence he's able to a film into two albums in Lomography. The images are taken in various parts of the world -- France, Greece, Spain, Japan, and more.

"I start my film as if it was immediately operational, thus I concentrate on the subject to shoot from the very first frame of the film. It can either be a street scene, a building, or a landscape. The first frame and it’s unpredictable cut is always an astonishing surprise."

Gérard did notice that the particular album was less liked than the rest of his albums, saying, "I can understand that as these photos are a bit more disturbing, but I’m happy to have overcome my own requirements and offer something different."

For more of his first of the roll shots, check out his album.

Credits: gheinz

Lately, Gérard's excited for the summer holidays for him to be able to take new photographs. He wants to try some new techniques, buy new film cameras -- anything to quench his desire for film photography. The pandemic surely had gotten him mellowed, but when the lockdown was lifted, in the last three weeks had him burning 10 rolls of film with his Sprocket Rocket, wanting to shoot with his new impression of liberty using the LomoChrome Metropolis film.

"I have to let the inspiration come back again, find new creative ideas… But one thing is sure, I’m motivated!"

For more of Gérard's works, visit his LomoHome and Instagram.

written by cielsan on 2020-06-22 #culture #news #people #film-photography #conceptual-photography #gerard-heinz

9 Comments

  1. mtsteve
    mtsteve ·

    first frames are always special!

  2. dominik_unbehagen
    dominik_unbehagen ·

    Great collection!

  3. mrgamera
    mrgamera ·

    Well done Gérard!

  4. rdetoyato
    rdetoyato ·

    most of my first frames turn out to be disturbing "selfies" hahaha

  5. an4
    an4 ·

    Top,

  6. gheinz
    gheinz ·

    @mtsteve @dominik_unbehagen @mrgamera @rdetoyato @an4 many thanks!!!

  7. kasta72
    kasta72 ·

    nice idea, i definitelly stop to waist the first frame on my films!

  8. gheinz
    gheinz ·

    @kasta72 yes! Thanks :-)))

  9. classfabiano
    classfabiano ·

    Special!

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