Body shots is not a celebration of cars, more a celebration of how light and water reflect off the contours of cars. Whilst creating this book, I was often unaware of the cars I were photographing; I was focused on the reflections, textures and tones on offer. It was not the most relaxing of projects, people understandably question a stranger photographing their car. In one instance, I had a man following me down the street in his dressing gown, wondering why I photographed his car and his wife’s. My strategy was to show the photos I was taking; to emphasise their abstract nature and to prove I was not prying on the contents (or number plates) of their car. These brief exchanges always ended amicably, but you could tell that I was being viewed as an eccentric. On a technical level, this project required shooting at F22 to get sharp reflections on the cars. Reflections distort more from a distance but as I was constrained to a 105mm lens, so I often ended up in the middle of the road to get the angle required. The small aperture resulted in higher ISO settings than I’d normally wish for, this not helped by the shutter speed, which needed to be reasonably to fast to ensure I could photograph at pace. The book begun as an exploration of distorted reflections, but it soon grew into categories influenced by the weather and the time of the day. Frost, cumulous clouds, rain and sunsets became opportune moments to capture interesting reflections and textures. I did most of the shoots over the winter period, so there were plenty of cold mornings, which were ideal for a quieter shooting experience. As the project progressed, I was keen to keep the appearance of the car subtle so that the distorted forms could take prominence. I was keen to keep the composition tightly cropped so that the viewer had to figure out what exactly was being presented. This abstraction has remained a key element in my photography, which I find draws the viewer in, allowing them a sense of satisfaction when the image is deciphered. Some cars created a mottled effect due to the quality of the painted surface and some cars would have created excellent images, had they only been washed. Even though the project is completed, on a few occasions I’ve had to stop myself analysing cars: the predicable result of repetitive behaviour. It was an enjoyable challenge to take a narrow starting point and expand it into 100 images. Though I do think my neighbours are probably pleased I’m no longer stalking the streets. I hope you enjoy this collection.
