Walter Schels
2003, 14 December (after)
Heiner Schmitz
[Life Before Death]

Black and white print
Provided by the artist - Walter Schels
age: 52
 
born: 26th November 1951
 
first portrait taken: 19th November 2003
 
died: 14th December 2003
 
Heiner Schmitz saw the affected area on the MRI scan of his brain. He realised immediately that he didn't have much time left. Schmitz is a fast talker, highly articulate, quick-witted, but not without depth. He works in advertising. Everyone has to be on top form - on the ball. Normally. Heiner's friends don't want him to be sad. They try to take his mind off things. At the hospice, they watch football with him just like they used to do. Beers, cigarettes, a bit of a party in the room. The girls from the agency bring him flowers. Many of them come in twos, because they don't want to be alone with him. What do you talk about with someone who's been sentenced to death? Some of them even say 'get well soon' as they're leaving. 'Hope you're soon back on track, mate!'
 
"No one asks me how I feel", says Heiner Schmitz. "Because they're all shit scared. I find it really upsetting the way they desperately avoid the subject, talking about all sorts of other things. Don't they get it? I'm going to die! That's all I think about, every second when I'm on my own."
 
LL/28951