Heilke Heller - passionate photographer

Heilke Heller - passionate photographer

At the age of seven Heilke Heller (born in 1979) was given her very first camera: a small, cheerful orange plastic device with a black and white film. Naturally, she went straight to the botanical garden. To this day, it is a place where the photographer finds inspiration for her images. As a daughter of two agricultural educators, Heilke was often in nature and was able to recognize many plant and bird species early on. Of course a few years passed before these two passions became her professional destiny. Growing up in Rostock in Northeast Germany, Heilke mainly photographed the architecture, city life and landscapes throughout her teens. She developed her analogue films herself in the photo laboratory of the ARThus youth art school, a former pioneer house in Rostock. Soon she received her first photo assignments for regional newspapers and won various photo competitions which provided further incentive to pursue an artistic career. During this time, the young photographer also met her life and business partner Thomas Camps.

Heilke used photography to finance part of her studies in Art History, Communication Studies and German in Greifswald. During this time, it was in particular press photography that brought new impulses and further development.

Following the pull of the big city, Heilke Heller & Thomas Camps moved to Berlin from the Baltic Sea in 2003. The couple had long been fascinated by the cultural diversity, the "unfinished corners" and the creative environment.

The adult education course "Earning money with your own photos" gave Heilke the push to apply to photo agencies. In 2005 she started an internship at ullstein bild, one of the most renowned agencies for historical and contemporary photography. Heilke's work consisted primarily of the selection and keywording of the incoming image material. Her trained eye stood out to her colleagues, who encouraged her to add her own photographs to the database. Despite the fierce competition, the first motifs quickly sold. A picture of the Berlin TV tower was hung across the entire city as a poster – an amazing feeling! The internship turned into a long-term part-time position in the field of photo licensing, which still offered Heilke enough time for her own photography.

The desire to be able to influence the publication of her images as well as the quality of the products, brought on the idea of founding an environmentally friendly greeting card company in 2010. paruspaper has existed in its current form since 2014. All motifs in the “Nature” collection are photographed exclusively by Heilke Heller. One of her earliest postcards "Holunder (Elderberry)" - an abstract photo of the buds of the plant is still in our collection today. The trademark of Heilke’s photography is playing with sharpness and blurring. "For this I often lie on the ground doing acrobatic contortions - even if the heavy equipment and hours of work in sub-zero temperatures sometimes push me to my physical limits, the days in nature are simply the best." Heilke finds her motifs in the forest, in parks and gardens or just on the edge of the field. Bright days with uniform cloud coverage without strong shadows offer the perfect photo weather. The moods of the light in the morning and evening sun are also ideal. Heilke likes to travel for inspiration and visit photo and art exhibitions. “Ultimately, however, nature itself inspires me. I feel connected to the motives, I build a relationship. This works particularly well with wild flowers or on the coast, ”emphasizes Heilke.

"Our collections „Nature“ & „Sound of the Sea“

paruspaper stands for real artistic photography. Our nature and maritime motifs are photographed exclusively by Heilke Heller. You receive photo art at a very fair price. Our high-quality products in this collection range from postcards, greeting cards, mini - greeting cards, note- and sketchbooks, postcard sets to calendars.

Yes, here at paruspaper we have the „green photo-thumb“! Flowers are magical and simply make you happy!

We offer a collection from a single source, an aesthetic overall picture, diverse and varied in detail. All photographs are characterized by their deliberate naturalness and freshness.

Our steadily growing floral range includes around 700 motifs for every season and countless occasions. Of course, we also offer „evergreens“, which are in demand all year round.

Timelessly beautiful and popular flowers as well as many lesser-known beauties and fantastic, abstract imagery awaits you. There is also an extensive collection of tasteful condolence cards.

Each motif also delights with either its botanical name or a poetic title on the back of the card, which reflects the inspiring abundance of nature.

Our collection „Sound of the Sea” invites you to dream. Around 250 motifs on postcards, greeting cards, postcard sets, notebooks and calendars await you. Come to the coast with us. Beaches, sun, dunes, old fishing boats & more. Follow us to the beautiful coasts of the North and Baltic Sea! Remember your last vacation with us and look forward to the next. Fresh air, seagull cries and the calming sound of the waves. Enjoy the freedom like on a day at the sea! Can’t you already feel the sand on your feet?

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