Amber – Miata

Amber has a love affair with her car, she bought it because it was "super sexy." She is a speed daemon behind the wheel of her 1999 Miata MX5, not afraid to put the pedal to the floor. She loves the removable hard top and her rims, although she can't get the top off by herself, it is an easy task for two. She still remembers the drive to Richmond, VA to buy it, "it was a very fun and exciting day" she recalls. She is a petite woman and comments that "my car and I are both fun sized."

For more pictures and info about this shoot click here.

Justin – Ram 1500

This truck is Justin's baby, it's a 2009 with less than 17,000 miles on it, all of those miles he has put on it. This purchase was a long time coming, he saved for many years for the down payment on this truck. He didn't have the Ram 1500 specifically picked out, just that he wanted a full size pickup truck. It is not his daily driver for that he has an older explorer. The Ram is for weekends and the occasional work task.

He is a Food Broker and Corporate Chef and has to haul food and equipment from time to time. Although his favorite thing to haul is the ski boat down to Lake Gaston to play on the water. He has some great memories taking his truck down there.

Justin is known for going through cars, not destroying them, just trading them in after a year, he says "I plan on driving this truck into the ground," for those of us who know him we are taking a wait and see approach.

Susan - Scion

An interview with Susan about her Scion.

What is the year, make, model of vehicle.

Betty White, 2006 Scion Xb

What do you do for a living?

Hairstylist

What made you buy this car?

I bought this car to get the most bang for my buck at the time. Space, quality, gas mileage...

What feeling do you get when you are driving your Scion?

When driving my car I feel like I'm inside of my own little home go-carting around the world. Meep meep!

What is your favorite thing about your car?

My favorite practical thing about the car is all the head and leg space. My other favorite thing is how much people like to pick on my car for being silly looking until they get in it and they're like 'oooooooh!'

What is your favorite memory with your car?

My favorite memory of the car is taking it on a 6ooo mile road trip around the US hitting 16 states the first spring I bought it.

Also, because of its good gas mileage it became the community vehicle for all of my hiking n driving it to all of these wonderful mountainous places n leaving it on the side of the road to hike n then exiting n seeing it again after 9miles in the woods. It was also like a white boxy beacon.

What makes this car special?

The thing that makes this car special is that its mine! All mine! It was my first major investment. I bought it and put every single mile on it myself, we're at 100,200.

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I will admit, I was one of those people who joked on them until I got in it. I am 6' 5" and I fit comfortably even in the back seat. If you are interested in participating in this project let me know, there is no cost to participate. Email me to discuss your portrait with your ride.

Kim - Mustang

Kim is an EMT, she recently bought this beautiful black Mustang. Kim has always wanted a Mustang and loves the sound of her exhaust that was just installed. It gives her confidence and makes her feel "Badass" in it. THe Mustang is a great escape for her because she is driving ambulances as part of her job, I bet they don't handle like the Mustang.

It was a great evening for the shoot, the weather was great and cloudy sky adds to the mood of the shot. We started on a back road, I had her angle her car across the road for the best shot, but we had to move it a couple times to let traffic by, nothing like playing in the street. The second location was on the side of Rt58 where this shot was taken. Kim is more goofy than serious and we had plenty of shots of her smiling but I wanted some with a badass look on her face. After numerous tries I took this shot and it is exactly what I wanted.

Mark

I had this overall concept in my head for some time, it was only when I planned to implement it at my brother-in-laws bachelor party that I realized how I wanted to execute the concept. This is the first image from this concept. It is Mark with his Jeep out on the Trail in Edinburg, VA. My concept also includes interviewing each owner, check back for the interview part of this post.

The post on my photography blog about this trip with other pictures is here.

Concept for this project

This is a project that has been on my mind for some time now and I have finally thought it out. The purpose is to document various people and their cars/trucks/toys. Whether it's a mom and her children in front of the minivan in a grocery parking lot or (as shown below) a man and his toy out on the trail. The location of the portrait will be just as important as the person and the vehicle.

The eventual plan for this would be to create a book, and/or a gallery show based on the images.

Contact me if you are interested in participating. I am looking for a wide variety of people and vehicles, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. my email is matt@matthartman.com, please include your name, phone number, vehicle, a little about yourself and why you are interested in participating.

I look forward to exploring this project and sharing the results.


For More information on me (Matt Hartman) check out my main photography blog here.