Artist reference 2 – Maurice Selden – Rally Photography

Maurice Selden is a well-known and very prolific rally photographer, whose career spanned 45 years from 1973 to 2018. Selden first started out capturing WRC events working for various publications, slowly working his way up through the ranks, and by 1982 had become the chief photographer for the motorsport publication LAT, covering rally and Formula 1 events all over the world. His photographs made waves through media at the time, and many were used for brand advertisements such as Ford.

Here are two incredible photos by Maurice Selden, of the same driver, Ari Vatenen, in two different rallies 10 years apart. These two photos share very similar attributes that make the photos striking, demonstrating Maurice Selden’s method and style, and showing exactly how Selden finds the ‘decisive moment’ in rally photography. In my opinion, the root of his method begins with an obstacle (i.e. a corner, a jump), and how the car must act to manoeuvre this obstacle. On the left is an image of Ari Vatanen in a Peugout 205 T16, an all-wheel drive rally car made for Group B. For this photo, Selden stands on the outside of the exit to a hairpin corner, where the cars will be powering out of the corner sideways, creating a big dust cloud behind them. This perspective is perfect for two reasons; the obstacle is clear, you can see where the car came from and where it is going, and the car is all-wheel drive, meaning that the driver will perform the corner sideways before regaining grip and exiting the corner straight. Maurice Selden captures the image right before the car straightens up, and in turn, captures the car mid-slide, catching the velocity of the car in the shot. The same principle appears in the photo on the right, except in this one, Maurice Selden is standing on the inside of the corner. This shot only works because the car is rear-wheel drive, and Ari Vatanen has had to swing the back of the car out in order to make the corner without crashing into the ditch on the outside. Additionally, in comparison to the photo on the left, Selden is much closer to the corner, and has to follow the car fast, resulting in a very prominent motion blur in the background, which consequently captures much more velocity overall. But it is this velocity that ultimately makes these photos striking, it enables the viewer to feel the motion of the car and, overall, captures the raw soul of these machines.

Rally photography is a very raw form of photography. The sheer speed of these cars requires fast shutter speeds, and the utilisation of whatever lighting the photographer can find to make these photos pop, which essentially boils down to either; a low hanging sun, or a camera flash. These are not controlled environments, and photographers will resort to using whatever elements possible to capture these beastly machines. This photo is a good example of how Maurice Selden does this while also catching the velocity of the car in the same shot. It is clear that Selden stood at this perspective understanding that the misty conditions create these god rays that majestically light up the snowy forest. But also, Selden considers that the cars will be hurdling through the air after hitting the jump to the left that is out of shot. It is the combination of these two factors that make up this photo; all Selden must focus on doing is capturing the car mid-air to catch its velocity. In this photo, the car is just about to hit the ground, a pivotal moment that captures anticipation and fear. The car is nearly sideways, and possibly didn’t even land the jump, but it is this specific decisive moment that Selden knew to capture because of its intensity and suspense. And it is this understanding of where the decisive moment is that ultimately makes Maurice Selden such a great photographer.

Artist Reference 1 – Helge Skodvin – 240 Landscapes

Helge Skodvin is a Norwegian photographer, who predominantly focuses on documenting the many aspects of Norway in his own juxtaposed style. In 2015, he created 240 Landscapes, a collection of images that all feature the Volvo 240, a staple car of the Nordic regions.

In these photos, Helge Skodvin experiments with the colour of the environment, and focuses on isolating the Volvo 240s in a way that captures the loneliness and grandiosity of Norway, using empty car parks or mountain landscapes to create distance and size. It is unclear if Skodvin puts the cars there himself, or simply finds them in the right places and takes his photo, it may well be a mixture of both. However, the most important aspect of the Volvo 240s in these photos is what they represent.

Volvo is a Swedish car brand, very well known for its safety and its boxy style, which was developed from the early 1960s to the late 90s. Many iconic Volvos came from this era, of which you can still see on the streets today because of how reliable these cars were made to be. Before this time, Volvo hadn’t settled on any specific style for its brand, they mostly just copied the curvy big block V8 American cars that were popular in the 40s and 50s. However, by the mid-60s Volvo’s engineers and designers had worked hard to develop their own style, which came in the form of the Volvo 144.

The 144 was a near-perfect car. The Volvo engineers’ focus on safety was pivotal to the overall design, and launched Volvo far ahead of its competitors when it came to safety. The car had disk brakes all around, which were 30% more effective than the drum brakes which mostly everyone else used. The design of the car also heavily utilised crumple zones, something that the majority of cars had previously failed to do resulting in more volatile crashes and a higher fatality rate. It is obvious to see why this car was so well-recepted in Scandinavia, a place full winding and icy roads, which pathed the way for Volvo’s reputation in later years.

The 70s was an amazing decade for Volvo. It became the largest car manufacturer in Scandinavia, and continued to improve its safety features with every new car they designed. First came the Volvo 140, an improvement on the 144, most notably in the extended front bumper, providing an extended crumple zone, and a new headlight design. Volvo started 1970 with 600,000 cars produced total, and ended that same year with over 2 million total cars produced.

This was when the Volvo became a staple of the Nordic regions. Everyone had a Volvo, from taxi drivers and police, to families and their next door neighbours. This car was perfect, and for the next 4 years Volvo was hard at work trying to make it even better. Development of a new car was in the works, named the VESC for ‘Volvo Experimental Safety Car’. In these developments, new technology could be tested, such as antilocking brakes and airbags. The car was constantly tested and refined, every detail was carefully constructed to ensure the highest safety standard possible.

Then in 1974, Volvo released the 240 series.

The 240 series came in a variety of iterations, a 2-door, 4-door and Estate, and later the headlights were changed, and different trim levels would be added over the course of its 19 year run. However, a 240 is always a 240, these cars were the safest as they came, and everyone started buying them up once again. The 240 became the iconic, boxy, ‘Volvo’ look, and the car appealed to nearly every major car market at the time; UK, US, Europe, everyone wanted a taste.

As the 240 grew older, the car became a nostalgia piece for families all over the world, most notably in Scandinavia, including Norway where Helge Skodvin grew up admiring these beauties of mechanical defiance in places of such serenity and emptiness.

This is essentially what this book is filled with, it is in the name, ‘240 Landscapes’. But it is the combination of the 240 and all of its history, nostalgia and iconicness, combined with the beautiful mountainous, snowy and empty landscapes of Norway that incited Helge Skodvin to take these photos.

This is the first image that appears in 240 landscapes. Taken in the early morning, indicated by the low light level, this photo consists of a colourful home hidden somewhere in valleys of Norway. The most striking element of this photo is the framing, every entity has its own part in the frame; the bushes are in the bottom right, the driveway is in the bottom left leading to the house in the middle with a lovely green garden to the right, and in the background at the top of the image stand the grandiose, tall peaks of Norway. However, it is the placement of the Volvo that is most important. It sits outside of this very homely house next to this nostalgic looking garden with a trampoline that entails that a family owns the Volvo. From this, the viewer is presented with a glimpse into the memories that this family holds; although the family is not there, it still feels as though we are experiencing a memory of this house from the perspective of a family member, looking back on the serenity and simplicity of life as it was living here. The Volvo is a very significant part of this, as many families can relate to this type of memory when thinking about, for example, a roadtrip they once had, where the car becomes cemented in this feeling of nostalgia. It is this link to a personal emotion that Helge Skodvin is trying to get at with the Volvo’s throughout this book, one that many Scandinavian people can relate to when so many families owned a Volvo 240.

The book also explores personality in cars too. Here is a customised 240, probably owned by a car enthusiast. The photo overall is not particularly spectacular, however it is the car that is the main focus. This Volvo is yellow, with aftermarket wheels, lowered suspension and a spoiler; it is clear that the owner has modified this 240 in their own, personalised way, and in turn has transformed the soul of this Volvo. This is something I talk about in my essay; when a person customises their own car, the car transforms into something new, in a way that is personalised to the driver. This ultimately means that the car’s soul becomes a reflection of its driver, and this is what we see here in this photo. Overall, the shot is not about the snowy, urban landscape, rather it is about representing the soul of this car that has been changed in its own, unique way. It is also representative of all of the 240s in the book, in the way that they are not all the same, but each have their own soul, in the form of; colour, model, trim, modifications, scratches. Even a cars imperfections are what make up its soul.

In summary, 240 Landscapes is a photobook made to represent what the Volvo 240 truly is; a staple of the Nordic regions, a family car, a nostalgic piece of memorabilia that will never be forgotten by the generations of people who experienced the pleasure of owning a 240. This book is about Norway, its beautiful landscapes and isolated surroundings, and how the 240 perfectly slots into its environment everywhere it goes. In my opinion, the book explores many aspects of the soul of the Volvo 240,

Personal project photoshoots –

for the entirety of my project, I will need multiple photoshoots to gather all the photographs I may need for all topics I wish to include. Focusing in on topics of relationships, upbringing, family, and teenage life overall. Harnessing the ins and outs of life as a girl, the love and enjoyment but also the difficulties too, whether that is insecurity, or hurdles they may face along the way. All of this is girlhood and growing up so I want to capture all of it as best that I can.

Photoshoot 1 –

For the first photoshoot, I wanted to focus in on relationships, in more depth, ‘teenage love’. Using myself and a friend to show this through ambient lighting and coloured spotlighted lights. I focused on gaze and touch to show affection and red and blue light to focus in on lust, the red symbolising almost the ‘rose tinted glasses’ saying more deeply.

Photoshoot 2 –

For my second photoshoot I focused on capturing teenage life, the good, bad, drunk and sober, anything I can think of that may not be normal for a teenager to experience, but has been normalised. It not just shows the messy aspect of partying, but the friendship and love that young adults have to give. I wanted to include milestones and downsides these special years that each teenager goes through ( I’m aware not all teenagers live like this ). However since I want this project to reflect on me and my growth not just through my actions but as a person, the raw and unfiltered reality would be really important to include.

Teenage life is full of love and whether that is hard to see sometimes, its always around. The love and respect I have for all my friends is a very big part of me and I don’t want to keep that out of my project and my life in general. The raw natural light photographs show the bare truth of how life is behind the cover of parents and guardians and the touch and comfort you will find in this photoshoot really embrace that.

Photoshoot 3 –

For my third photoshoot, I wanted to focus solely of collecting photos that show woman’s hardship. Since I want to show both sides of girlhood, one being the fun, exciting side that you see all over social media, and second being the issues and difficulties that woman and girls face on the day to day. I want to use these photos (after editing) to place along side not only photos I’ve taken from these photoshoots but archived photos of my childhood. This is to show contrast and almost what’s behind the wall of personality that girls not just my age but of all ages may put up.

For example, along side an archived photo of maybe my parents and siblings, I could put an edited photo of a younger girl with bruises, evidence of domestic violence. I want to include this in my Personal project because it is raw, it is something people don’t talk about or see very often and it is definitely something I want to bring awareness too. Too many people can understand and relate to this kind of experience, especially from a young age and that makes me want to showcase my story even more.

Archived photoshoots –

Obviously, I did not take these photos myself, they are a collection my parents have been growing for my entire childhood. Capturing memory after memory and depicting the innocence and love that filled my childhood. Showing a happy family with loads of friends and endless support.

Photoshoot 1 –

Photoshoot 2 –

Photoshoot 6 –