Covered
The death of the Automobile
by Barry Lewis
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About the Book
In “Covered Car, Long Beach, CA, 1956”, he displays an undetermined vehicle, draped in a white, store-bought cover, regally flanked by twin palm trees, lit by the fading sun, like a shroud containing the American dream.
Collecting images of covered cars seems never-ending, though not without reward. I find the cars never fail to surprise me, appearing when least expected and often when I’m without a camera. One of the pleasures of being a obsessive-compulsive is trying not to let a car get away, spotting a prime specimen, and waiting for it to show itself in glorious light and isolation, to convey a brooding presence behind the familiar.
Many people (mainly men) want to know the make of the car hidden. I never say. In fact, I never look.
I can probably guess about half of the models, (there is even one photograph of a covered pile of bricks pretending to be a van!) but I think it is better not to know. The mystery of the unwrapped gift.
The real question, for me, is why are the cars covered?
Protection from the elements, or safety from predators?
These funereal objects set in aspic represent, for me, both an emblem of our love affair with the motorcar and a symbolic presager of a time when we will look back and wonder at the level of our total dependancy.
Features & Details
- Primary Category: Fine Art Photography
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Project Option: Large Format Landscape, 13×11 in, 33×28 cm
# of Pages: 70 - Publish Date: Nov 26, 2009
- Keywords car, covered, auto, mystery
About the Creator
I was born in London in 1948. Having originally studied theoretical chemistry I won a scholarship from the Royal College of Art to do an MA in photography. This opportunity saw the start of my career, which began in 1976 when I won the Vogue Award and worked as a staff photographer for the magazine. I have produced several books, founded the Network photographers agency and photographed for magazines throughout the world including Life & National Geographic and received the Oscar Barnac award in 1991 In recent years, my work has become more diverse: I have been working on short films, explored different styles of portraiture and have worked extensively for corporate and advertising clients. I am currently working on 3 major projects, a film entitled Flow, Visual Noise (an exploration of image & messaging in the visual landscape) and “The White Tent”, a portrait project using a mobile white tent across the UK from Glastonbury to a festival of erotica.