Real to Reel | Assessment 1 – A photographic collection of like-subjects + reflection

Cars are seen by many simply as a mode of transport, a means of which one can travel from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible. Yet there’s a bit more to it than that. Consciously or not, these ‘machines’ are a direct reflection of our personality and who we are.

Owning a red car says something about that individual, it says that your bold and don’t simply run with the pack. A white Mazda 3 is a way of exclaiming to the world that your name is Judie and only shop for items advertised as being on ‘special’. A ‘Great Wall’ Ute says that life hasn’t panned out quite as well as you had expected, and a Fiat 500 suggests everything you’ve ever owned was paid for by dad.

They are as diverse as their owners, all different colours, shapes, sizes, types, young and old. But all with one purpose. To bring people and experiences closer together, make the world feel a little smaller, more accessible, and journeys more comfortable. The beach, the city, the shops, the train station, the footy, and home again. We rely on them every day to experience and do more, and what would we do without them.

In terms of technical proficiency, the photographs were taken on a clear sunny day in which plenty of light was available. This made it difficult to balance the exposure of the background against the car in the foreground particularly with darker vehicles, or when the light source (sun) was on the far side of the subject. An ND filter would have been beneficial in such a situation. There is also a significant deep groove on the lens which is visible on some of the images, which I have no control over.

Otherwise, I attempted to frame each image identically as a long shot, with adjustments for vehicle scale to leave equal proportions on either side of the subject. I focused on the car in each shot, which was easy due to the scale with which they occupied the frame. I travelled to as many different locations as possible and shot as many different types of vehicles as possible to really drive home their purpose and emphasise diversity.