If the coolest secret agent in the known universe always uses the same car brand, then it must be something very special. In the case of James Bond, alias 007, and the 100-year-old luxury manufacturer Aston Martin, two icons come together that are both exotic and particularly British.
Two anniversaries in one fell swoop
The 50th anniversary of James Bond in 2012 saw the meeting of two icons that embody British coolness like almost nothing else. In Skyfall, Daniel Craig drove an Aston Martin DB5 as Agent 007. The same exciting six-cylinder car that Sean Connery drove in Goldfinger.
In the meantime, Aston Martin has also celebrated a milestone birthday. In the century since it was founded by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin on January 13, 1913, a portfolio has been created that ranges from the Le Mans-winning DB2 to the 2013 Vanquish. And it is precisely this portfolio that is presented in this comprehensive book.
Photos, not text, tell the stories
With a book by René Staud, it is clear that photography is at the heart of the book, and that's a good thing! Never before have these British gems been presented in such a beautiful light. A very large format was chosen for the book so that all the details of the photography come to light.
The perfect light in the studio
René Staud is best known for his studio photography. He was helped by an invention that made him a star of the scene overnight. "Cars simply couldn't be photographed properly with the light available at the time. More than documentation was hardly possible," he remembers a time when floodlights were a maximum of one square meter in size.
"But to bring out all the details in a car, you need large, even light," Staud realized and tinkered around until a construction called Magicflash was ready for use: with so-called flash trays up to nine meters long and three meters wide, perfect illumination was guaranteed. "The differences were so striking that I could hardly save myself from orders from one day to the next," reports the Stuttgart native.
But not just studio shots!
But this book doesn't just show photos taken in the studio. René Staud has pulled out all the stops to capture the different characters of the vehicles and their surroundings in the best possible way: Modern architecture, pit lanes, roads with views over large cities, sometimes static, sometimes very dynamic.
Thanks to Staud's dramatic lighting, automobile photography becomes quite a sensual experience. The different approaches to photographing vehicles immediately make you forget the thickness of the book and you reach the end quite quickly and surprised.
A bit of text in between
In addition to the 160 very large-format photographs, the concise short texts by car design professor Paolo Tumminelli are a particular pleasure. As is usual in the publisher's book program, the descriptions are in several languages, in this case German, English, French, Russian and Chinese.
Conclusion
The photos shown by René Staud inspire on all levels, perfectly composed details, razor-sharp, strong colors, rich black, the light skillfully emphasizing the typical vehicle shapes. The viewer can always sense the special aura of the British classics.
The enjoyment of the cars is only spoiled by the fact that most of the pictures are split down the middle by the binding of the hardcover. However, if a fold-free binding had been chosen, the price of the already expensive book would probably have soared even higher.
Ultimately, the book will not only appeal to Aston Martin enthusiasts. Anyone who enjoys looking at perfectly photographed vehicles should take a look at this book.
Further information
- How to order: Order the book from Amazon ( duty free for Switzerland) or directly from teNeues Verlag
- Photos: René Staud
- Texts: Paolo Tumminelli
- Languages: English, German, French, Russian, Chinese.
- Publisher: teNeues Verlag
- ISBN 978-3-8327-9818-5
- Format: 304 pages, 29.7 cm wide, 37.6 cm high, 3.8 cm thick
