LomoGuru of the Week: marcel2cv

13

Aside from film photography, Marcel has a deep obsession with his Citroen 2-CV. Well, if it isn’t obvious enough, he got the other half of his LomoHome name in this car model! Get to know more about marcel2cv – our LomoGuru of the Week!

Full Name: Marcel H.
LomoHome: marcel2cv
Location: Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
Number of years as a Lomographer: About 10 years
Number of years in the Community: 2.5 years

Tell us about yourself.

I am 37 years old and I live in the industrial region of western Germany Ruhrgebiet, located at the river Ruhr. My job is to install and maintain servers and everything that concerns web hosting. My hobbies apart from, obviously, photography are my old timer, a Citroen 2-CV, several kinds of water sports and travelling.

Tell us something about your LomoHome’s name.

Pretty simple, it’s just my first name and the name of my car, my 2cv. I love that car. It’s kind of a Lomographic car. I always know that it would be faster and easier driving with a modern car, but my 2cv is a lot more fun to use. For those of us who do not know the 2-CV, this is how it looks like:

Credits: marcel2cv

Share with us your most memorable experience in the Lomographic Community.

There are so many, but there is in fact one moment that I will always remember. I had just started with my experiments on self-development using Caffenol. That day everything was just still unsure and new. I had just returned from my holidays in St.Peter-Ording at Germany’s northern coast where I shot several films, one of them in black & white with my Lubitel 166 Universal. It was the first roll of black and white which was not supposed to be an experiment anymore, but the real stuff. I had bought a yellow-green filter for the clouds, the weather was perfect, the beach was nearly empty. So, the conditions were as cool as they could get and my hopes for that roll were high.

I developed it the next day and was so nervous! But it all turned out just perfect! It’s still one of my best rolls of film until now and I enjoy viewing it once in a while. Here are some photos from that roll:

Credits: marcel2cv

Have you actually met people in the Community that you now consider as close friends? If yes, name at least one of them.

Although we have many Lomographers in Germany and at least four in my hometown, I didn’t meet too many until now. To be honest, it’s just knipsomat, with whom I had great fun at the Photokina fair in Cologne, and our lovely zonderbar, who runs the German Community and does a great job at doing so! But, I guess there will be more meet-ups in the future.

Do you think you’ll still be taking Lomographs in the next 5 years? Why?

No doubt about that. There is just no real alternative. Well, I own a DSLR and still use it quite often, but it’s always more fun to pick up one of my many (my wife says too many) analogue cameras.

In short I take the digital camera for documenting holidays, weddings, and stuff. Then, the analogue one for all the rest. If you see me carrying a camera, which I usually do, there is a 99% chance that it will be an analogue one. The analogue pictures just have the soul – a “filter” that the producers of modern cameras are still trying to invent.

What is your favorite Lomo camera and why? Do you have any memorable experiences using this camera?

I don’t think I can reduce it to just one. There are too many in my shelf. The LC-A+ is my standard camera which I take with me quite often. If an SLR is required I usually take the Praktica MTL5B or the Zenit-E. Both are reliable and versatile.

For the medium format the Lubitels are always a good choice, but at the moment I prefer my Yashica Mat (unfortunately the transport mechanism requires some maintenance soon) and the Flexaret IV (although its mirror is dark like the night). As a fan of the old screw mount Leicas I also love my Russian copies, Fed1 and Zorki1.

And my Horizon Kompakt. I don’t take it with my on random walks too often, as it is a bit bulky, but if I take it with me it always brings great results. Here’s one of my favorite pics that I took with her during a fun fair at night. That would be really hard to copy with a digital camera!

Credits: marcel2cv

Please share with us your favorite Lomographic shot and explain why you love that particular image.

This is not an easy choice for me, but this one here is very special to me.

Credits: marcel2cv

It was on the first roll with my Lubitel 166 Universal, and I was pretty unsure if everything worked fine. So I told myself that as long as one or two pics are okay, it’s fine for the first roll. Nearly all of the were great and this one got chosen for being picture of the day on the German page. I could not stop smiling for a week or so.

Please share a Lomograph you wish you had taken and explain why.

I love looking at other people’s Lomographs, but I don’t really want to copy. We all have our own style and this is what makes Lomography special. I’d love to copy some pics of vicuna though, because it would mean I’ll get to travel to very lovely places!

Oh, finally I found one! The pic of the girl falling at the beach, which appears as an error message on the Lomography website! THAT would be a pic which I wish I had taken.

Credits: tommynorth

It’s so funny, and I love the warm colors and all the style.

What’s the best Lomographic or photography advice you think you have given?

LIGHT is the key. If your object isn’t absolutely 100% perfect, it will always improve by a special light. If you want to take a picture of a building, landscape, or anything else that’s a little permanent but the light isn’t right, just wait or come back if you can.

Look at this below picture.

Credits: marcel2cv

It’s not too interesting but the light made it work. If I would go there today and take another one of the same tree, it would be boring as hell, as the sky is clouded today. But, if you cannot come back or the scene will be gone, be sure to TAKE A PHOTO! If the subject is worth it, having a bad picture is still better than having no picture at all.

Another example. This photo wouldn’t be too special if the sun was shining bright. But with that dim, soft light it improves.

Credits: marcel2cv

And here’s one photo of the other kind. No special light, but the object was worth it. Do you also feel sad when you look at the hanging shoulders of that guy in the right? Kind of fifth wheel somehow.

Credits: marcel2cv

If there’s one song or movie that best describes your Lomo life, which one is it and why?

Hm, no idea. :D Sorry.

Is there any advice you can give to new analogue shooters?

First: You really don’t need an analogue cam which costs over 200€ at the beginning. Trust me. I really love my LC-A, but an Olympus XA or anything like that will fit your needs perfectly as a beginner and costs just some bucks. If you really fall in love with Lomography and want to go on, you’ll buy an LC-A anyway later on. I think a good cam for beginners should have a lightmeter, to minimize disappointing underexposed pics.

Second: Start with 35mm film. This way you have 36 ways of learning from your mistakes with every roll instead of just 12.

Third: Learn from others. Ask! Lomography is without any doubt one of the friendliest in the web.

Fourth: Don’t take that pic at the beach where the sky is the upper half and the beach and sea the other one. We all have done it. That doesn’t make it any better. It’s just boring.

Fifth: Make friends at Lomography. Your pics can be as cool as can get, but with just two or three friends in your list you won’t get too many likes. Of course likes are not the only thing which is important in that community, but how would you imagine playing a concert for 3 people (and all 3 belong to your family)? A greater crowd and loud applause give you the push you need to do it again and improve!

Credits: marcel2cv

2014-04-13 #lifestyle #lomoguru #lomoguru-of-the-week

13 Comments

  1. herbert-4
    herbert-4 ·

    Congratz on LomoGuru!! Citroen 2cv was the world's greatest microcar, much better than VW Beetle.

  2. buckshot
    buckshot ·

    @marcel2cv Well done, Sir - keep up the good work!

  3. icequeenubia
    icequeenubia ·

    Thank you for the interview @marcel2cv! :)

  4. ageebonavito
    ageebonavito ·

    Great interview. It's got me inspired to go shoot right now. Thanks.

  5. hervinsyah
    hervinsyah ·

    Awesome tipster, thanks for sharing & congrats @marcel2cv =)

  6. alex34
    alex34 ·

    @marcel2cv Congratulations my friend!

  7. marcel2cv
    marcel2cv ·

    @herbert-4, @buckshot, @icequeenubia, @ageebonavito, @hervinsyah, @alex34: Thank you all so much! :)

  8. freakoftheweek
    freakoftheweek ·

    YEAH!!! Glückwunsch @marcel2cv
    Sehr sympathisches Interview und tolle Fotos.
    Hoffentlich trifft man sich eines Tages mal...

  9. marcel2cv
    marcel2cv ·

    @freakoftheweek: Danke Dir! Wir treffen uns bestimmt mal. :)

  10. vici
    vici ·

    That colorful, Holga, beach photo made a strong impression on me as well @marcel2cv It convinced me to purchase a Holga and days later, I became a member of this community.

  11. waggrad00
    waggrad00 ·

    Congratulations @marcel2cv!! Love your advice.

  12. marcel2cv
    marcel2cv ·

    Thank you! :) @waggrad00 and @vici

  13. avola
    avola ·

    With a big delay congrats for this reward, it slipped my attention!!

More Interesting Articles