Winter's perceptive photographs of cars across the decades--and around the world--revel in nostalgia while revealing the subtleties of our relationship with automobiles, drivers and the things we see along the way
Since their invention, cars have been one of the driving forces behind America's constantly changing culture. Not only have they helped shape the country's sprawling cities and suburban society, but they have inspired films (from
American Graffiti
to
The Fast and the Furious
) and songs (from the Beach Boys' zippy
Fun, Fun, Fun
to Bruce Springsteen's anthemic
Thunder Road
) and an endless parade of road-trip books.
Over the course of half a century, Clark Winter captured images of the car as a symbol of Americana. More intriguingly, he also found a global spirit in this form of transportation in countries such as Spain, Italy and China. Winter's photographs, made in both color and black and white, are not simply focused on the vehicles but rather on the way people physically relate to cars, turning each image into a stage upon which a drama quietly (and sometimes comically) unfolds between owner, passenger and passerby. And because these dramas are universal--eating ice cream in the back seat, waiting for a pump at the gas station, stuck in traffic, busted for speeding--Winter's wide-eyed, often lighthearted pictures invite us to recall and relive our own days of adventure, romance and speed.
Clark Winter
is a trustee of several cultural institutions, including the June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation in New York. His previous photobooks include
Birds
and
Free Air
.