Automobiles with different faces

My passion for automobiles with different faces was born out of the puchase of my first Citroën 2CV, in 1978, as a student in Germany. I had always loved horses and now I was going a love horsepower.

Car and Camera

The car and the camera have both radically changed the way life is lived and the nature of one's perception. Both allow to communicate his/her aspirations, to express his/her personality and to experience freedom, independence and power.

People sometimes ask me if I only photograph cars. In fact, it is very rare that I take a picture of just the car because it happens to be in a certain environment. It is not that simple. The car is only pretext for me; the camera my tool for building humain relations.

I enjoy people, and I share great moments of escapism with these car and mechanic enthusiast. The love and passion for vintage cars is a way of achieving a better understanding of history and also a way of becoming better prepared for the future. The present sits right between the two. The present moment fixed in the photographique image has already became the history of a symbolic moment.

In this work around antique cars, I try to create an atmosphere detached from our modern day times. Each encounter is like discovering a moment of history, which is repeating itself with all its oders, colors and noises. All senses are awakaned when I describe a certain photographic reality with black and white images, which will then become my reality af that given moment - a trace of memory.

By fixing images, which seem to come from another time, I create a different reality respecting the authenticity of the events. The photographique image is somehow the witness of a real moment, felt and recorded with my sensitivity. However, in fact, it represents much more than a document of a fleeting moment. It becomes for me an interpretation of bonds and relationships between men/women and their driving machines.

A love story

When I was a student in Germany, I participated in a student exchange program at my university , and in 1978 came to France for one semester . During that time, friends of mine would take me along for picnics in their 2 CV, and in less than 2 minutes the front and back seats would be pulled out through the car doors, becoming comfortable lawn chairs. I was very impressed by this and I began to get interested in 'that' Citroën. When I returned to Germany, the first thing I did was I trade in my blue beelte for a red 2CV. I bought it from a car dealer who sold American limousines. He apparently was unaware of the fact that it was standard on those small French cars to have four doors. An option considered almost a luxery in Germany at that time. Shortly thereafter, the exhaust clamp on my 2CV became loose and was making a lot of noise. I took it to a Citroën mechanic for it's first minor repair and it cost me pay 50,00 DM . That was a lot of money and I was furious. From then on, with the help of a friend, I started doing my own repairs and began to get familiar with the car. Over time grew quite attachted It became more than a simple means of transportation, it was simply a great pleasure to drive it , especially while traveling through France exploring and gathering my life.

Technical notes

Being an enthusiast of "straight photography" I photograph with a 35mm cameara using available light and full framing. This suits my nature best and gives me great freedom in taking pictures. I compose my photographs very tightly to set up a certain harmony and a better readability in the chaos of appearances. Depending of their usage, I make prints of my images for collectors, exhibitions and/or printing. The original prints are enlarged manually on silver salt papers.