Stories on Film: Marion Herbain of First of The Roll

Meet Marion Herbain who set up the popular @f1rstoftheroll Instagram page that is dedicated to film photography. She selected some of her favourite photos from this series and talked to us about her inspiring project.

Hello Marion, tell us a bit about yourself?

Hello! I’m a Parisian who moved to London where I’ve been living for the past 18 years. I play bass in a band called Veronica Falls and have a passion for architecture, exploring, Outsider Art and of course, photography.

What made you want to start up @firstoftheroll?

I got the idea for First of The Roll when I started shooting analogue again a few years back. The first frame which would often come back incomplete or burnt quickly became my favourite. Instead of discarding it as a mistake, I decided to celebrate it. The first frame embodies everything I love about shooting film, from the manual process of it down to the unpredictability of the results you get. I get a lot of people writing in saying they used to regard the first frame as a waste of film, but that they now look forward to it and think about what they’ll shoot for it. That makes me really happy.

Do you think Instagram is a help or hindrance to the film photography industry?

I think it’s been a big help so far! It’s given film photographers from all over the world a platform to showcase their work and with the help of hashtags, it’s created a very strong community and has encouraged dialogue.

You have over 45K followers on your Instagram page, do you think there has been a strong resurgence in analogue?

Most definitely. I’ve noticed a sharp increase even just in the two years that the account has existed. I see it as a mixture of people now having a global platform to showcase their work, but also as a direct response to the advancement of digital technologies. So much emphasis is currently put upon perfection and enhancing reality, I think it’s made a lot of people want to slow things down and get back to basics in a quest for authenticity and durability. A few companies including you guys have also responded favourably and come up with fun new films and accessories to shoot with. It’s really exciting to know that there are still a lot of new areas to foray into with something as old as analogue photography.

We asked you to select some of your favourite shots, tell us why you chose these?

I thought they were a good illustration of the diversity and beauty of "Firsts" you can get!

What are your plans for firstoftheroll in 2018?

I’ve been talking about putting a ‘First of The Roll’ book out with a lovely London based art publisher. I’d also love to have a physical exhibition one day.

Visit Marion's Instagram page and submit your own #firstoftheroll f1rstoftheroll

2018-05-04 #culture #analogue #uk #first-of-the-roll #instagram