Amazonian Refuge Photo

Photographer’s Note

Whilst looking for more shots of Saddleworth (Which I can't find) I came across this set (which I thoght I'd lost).

This one reminded of one Olli posted, probably about a year ago, of Ford Taunuses, so I thought I'd give it the Olli treatment, with grain and a twist.

I was amazed to find, when driving around Southern Sweden back then, the very large proportion of cars on the road that were these old Volvo Amazons, even then, between 20 and 30 years old. I couldn't understand why poeple in one of the richest countries in the world drove around in such old cars. And they weren't restored specialities, as this model had become in Britain at the time, but just every day cars in worn condition, but functional.

I got an idea why they kept them so long a year later when I bought one and drove it to Spain. They were just superb cars in every way. Reliable, robust, performed and handled about as well and most contempory cars of the time, comfortable enough to drive for a whole day without backache and even fairly economical, why change.

I had a cheap Olymus compact at the time, and I can't remember what model.

ChrisJ, jarkko, Kenny10pin, Rinie_Hoff, Genna7, joseelias has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

clodreno (0) 2005-02-19 3:36

I like that Richard.. Very nice image.. The grain , the old volvos, the colors..
The tilt is also well done here..

diaz_sanchez (0) 2005-02-19 3:55

Hello Richard:) I like cars and photos with cars:) really nice photo:) and this grain like Clodreno said is great:) nice job:)

saludos

Margarita

p.s boys are boys :))) like cars:)))

[2]

Wolle (148) 2005-02-19 5:15

The shot looks a little like it is scanned out of a newspaper with its grain. It makes it dokumentary. The amazon is a great car and very beautiful. I like this shot because of its composition and its objekt.

Hauke (2) 2005-02-19 9:32

Yo Richard, great work in my eyes. Presenting rotated approx. 45 degs acw is stunning. Powerful image, underlined by the graininess. POV is fantastic, all roofs at the same height ;-) Well done and thanks for sharing it.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-02-19 9:40

great work, I like the angle here too, very good coarseness too, very well done

jkneze (506) 2005-02-19 13:34

Nice tribute to a great car. My freind still has one of these but in almost mint condition. I may be a bit too young to remenber the qualities of this car but if there is a car I'd like to buy when I "grow up" financially is a VOLVO:)
The grainness of the pic adds a certain something, nice compo.

Ebbe (9591) 2005-02-19 15:20

I like the front, side, back combination like picked from a catalog shot. The tilt is nice too to give this a certain feeling.

One more reason for keeping the Amazons was the poor quality in the mid 70´s of the later Volvo models.

The yellow light on the closest one is a special story of stupid legislation. In the 70´s we got the law that headlights should be turned on at all times when driving. This is a good thing and I am sure it has saved many lifes. But in the beginning there was a lobby that said the the cost of headlight bulbs would be enormous and that betteries would wear out. Because of that these yellow 21 W lights were allowed as substitute. The problem was that in real traffic and a bit dirty they were to weak to be seen clearly. If you forgot to turn your dipped headlights on instead in the evening these yellow little lights were on the other hand blindning. A very stupid little thing, a bit typical of the 70´s maybe.

[workshop] [compare] +

Rinie_Hoff (9334) 2005-02-19 16:51

Hi Richard, Amazonian refuge to me, would be a stable, I guess.
I actually never rate car pictures, give me bike, and it's OK, but I like htis one, thet grain fits them well, I kind of like the cars, mainly because they have a lot of quality.
Is the tilt from back then, 1990, or from now in PP? I think I would have desaturated the green a bit. Well, I think it's to loud

avigur_11 (21307) 2005-02-19 18:15

A very interesting shot of old Volvos, Richard. I like it as it is, with the tilt and the grainy look, but I also like Ebbe's WS a lot. MAybe Rinie is right about the green, but still, it is a very good composition. I wonder what Olli will do with it..

ChrisJ (70521) 2005-02-20 2:46

Hi Richard

Another vote for the grain & tilt, which work very effectively together in this image. Superb sharpness & well managed lighting. Good work!

joseelias (367) 2005-02-21 7:59

Very curious note. And I like these old classic cars although never drove one. Regarding the photo I think it’s very good. Your choice for the tilt in the PP shows how great ths community can be by making us look in a different and more creative way at the same subjects. The noise is also very good and perfectly applied. One of the few cases where I like coloured noise instead of monochromatic one. Regarding the green at the back I personally like it because our eyes are instantly attracted to the car at the right due to the tilt and crop. This way, the strong green becomes the “hook” for the background and the motive for our eyes to search for more details in that area.

scalerman (25787) 2005-02-27 11:55

Richard, just happed to be in an internet cafe: the screens are horrible. But this seems like a nice shot. I'll have to try a cleaner monitor. cheers...