Photography Project

Whammy!

In Sweden people are really into classic cars. Something I never really noticed in Ireland. So over the last month I have tried to capture part of this community.
I decided to focus on the owners of classic Volvo cars. So for me, this project is primarily about the people.

All of the people I photographed have a unique reason for owning a classic car. Some have strong emotional reasons for owning their car, while others simply like the look of theirs.
Regardless of the reasons, they all share something in common with one another.

I wanted to capture each person as an individual, while also creating a sense of a unity between all the car owners.
For this reason I took every photo using the same format. The car was positioned the same way every time. The distance between the car and camera was also kept the same, along with the camera and owner.
I also always used the same prime lens and f-stop.

To help keep things personal for the owner, I always took the photo on their property. If anyone lived in an apartment I took the photo in the area.
I always stood 12.6 meters from the car (odd number I know, but that measurement was taken during the first photo so I based the other photos off that).
That restriction along with shooting on their property actually turned out to be quite challenging when framing the photo.

In total I took 20 photos over the month. I might continue the project at a later stage.
Anyway I thought I would share some of them here.

Uncle Ben

I'd like to see the pictures with the owner either at the front or back of the vehicle.

flyingsnail

Very nice, I like the post processing

Whammy!

Uncle Ben wrote: »

I'd like to see the pictures with the owner either at the front or back of the vehicle.

I edited my original post a little.
My main focus was on the car owner, not on the car itself

magicbastarder

Whammy! wrote: »

My main focus was on the car owner, not on the car itself

on the assumption you're looking for C&C so - without me going through the shots and cropping tighter, have you tried this yourself? the subjects are a little small in the frame; i'd assumed that the weighting on car vs. owner was roughly equivalent from the shots?
this is not a criticism, i do like them as is...

magicbastarder

Whammy! wrote: »

In Sweden people are really into classic cars. Something I never really noticed in Ireland.

plus, is it true that the lower light levels and lower temps mean that they are more restricted with outdoor activities than the irish are (not that we're especially blessed over the winter with either)?

Whammy!

I wasn't really looking for C&C. I just wanted to share some of the photos I took from the project But I'll address what you mentioned.

Yes I could have cropped some in closer. But doing so would undo part of what I was trying to capture.
These are environmental portraits.
While the person is the most important element in the photo (hence the centre stage) their car and environment are also a part of who they are.
In the case of the 6th photo. A tight crop would remove a lot of his personality which is evident on the walls, while also making him and his car out of scale with the rest of the photos.

No not at all.
This country is very serious about outdoor activities, regardless what time of the year it is.
The country also doesn't grind to a halt when it snows. Everything continues as normal, even when the temperature gets as low as -25 degrees

toe_knee

I really like this series. The post processing is beautiful

DaireQuinlan

oh really nice. Both the series|concept and the individual shots.

Myksyk

Lovely set of shots.

Wailin

Great photos. You even got George RR Martin :pac:

Pat Dunne

An excellent photo project, I've been into cars and bikes for most of my life and I have often found that the owners are as interesting and as unusual as their vehicles.

Really like no. 4 with the blue van and owner and no.6 "Santa Claus and his tractor"

There is a very vibrant classic car scene here in Ireland and the boards forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=514 has lots going on every week, especially in the summer.