I’ve just made a new book. It’s about cars, but really it’s about photography about cars. We were in Kansas City, visiting our daughter and her family, and I spent a few hours in this “museum.” I put that in quotes as it’s more of a private collection, not open to the public, available only to groups doing fundraising events for valued causes. That’s how our daughter was involved. For me, it was a delight for the camera, and for an artist who happens to love the subject.

It’s a 12″x12″ square format, 72-page photo book. The subtitle identifies the collector. The family’s grandfather owned a Studebaker agency; now the family business is in lighting.

And lighting adds so much to this environment, bringing out color of deeply polished paint, like on this classic Studebaker.

Other than on the flaps, this introductory spread contains the only verbiage in the book, introducing the place with its two floors, upper dedicated to pre-WWII era cars (shown here) and more recent vintage on the lower level.

You really should click on each of these photos to appreciate a larger view, maybe twice. The vehicle on the right is a 1910 International Harvester truck, complete with an old gas pump behind and an old juke box.

Another panorama, plus an array of headlights and chrome.

I couldn’t get enough of the bold front-on majesty of these classics, especially as seen from a low camera angle.

The beauty of the paint is another attraction as revealed on these two Studebakers.

Every car in the collection has been completely restored to its original state with the engine in running order. That’s after they’ve sometimes been found in boxes of parts.

A replica of an auto shop workbench piled with genuine early era tools and paraphernalia. Early gas pumps are seen here in a car door’s reflected paint. (Click to see better.)

Wall-size replicas of early photos reveal the family’s early interest in racing.

The variety of hood ornaments on the early models revealed a pride of workmanship all around.

Once, the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach featured such hood ornaments as works of art, “reenacted” with human figures. You can see here where they got the inspiration.

The interiors of these classics is another intrigue. Click on the photo to see the attention to lifestyle in the lower left, a box of picnic utensils on the running board!

Looking at cars though the windows of other cars is, in fact, how we often see the world.

In design, there are three basic shapes: the rectangle, triangle and circle. Or, three-dimensionally: the cube, the pyramid and the sphere. Here it’s the circle and the sphere of those early wheels that captivates.

A few of the cars revealed a hip customizing, like these two with chopped down cab tops.

Two framed pieces of illustration adorn the walls, wonderful in their own artistic expression.

More bold approaches, conquerors of the road.

The Bugatti was a classic then as has been ever since.

A panorama of part of the lower floor reveals more recent classics, and hood ornaments more subdued (though that of the V8 Cadillac belongs to the earlier era).

Clockwise, a 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk, an undated Mercedes with 1998 plates, a Packard Clipper from around the same era, and a 1963 Studebaker Avanti.

A car and romance, from a larger picture advertising a 1952 Studebaker. At right, a 1942 Studebaker Commander.

Viewing cars in the reflection of other cars adds its own intrigue as, here, another take of that used on the book’s cover. Right, rear view of a 1928 Packard.

The collection also featured a number of motorcycles and bikes and midget racers, here reflected in some car’s side panel. Right, a rare Vespa motor scooter with a side car.

Just a few of the motorcycles, early-era Harleys on the left and, right, a 650cc Triumph, the kind of which I used to ride. And there’s a 1951 MG TD in red, just like my loved first car, though mine was black).

Finally, just another splash of majesty of chrome and paint and engineering and design blasting across a two page spread to end the book. I’ve not shown every page here, but wanted to give an idea of the abundance of it all, and the tribute to the man-made beauty of another time.

The photographer and the i-phone 7 unseen in the right hand. (Photo by Anne Moore.)

I just made one pencil sketch record of the day, of a 1931 Studebaker Speedway.

The coffee table book on the coffee table. This is my 11th title. It’s a labor of love, book design long an interest since before my days as Art Director at Surfer Magazine when I designed every cover and every page. That, and photography, always an interest. These cost about $100 to make. I just do it for myself. But if you’d like one, contact me: moore@hyattmoore.com.

 

PS The last Blank Canvas blog featured a retrospective of flamenco dancers. A number of you inquired about having an original or a giclee print on canvas. You can check the blog again here, and send me an email if anything interests: moore@hyattmoore.com