Right Place in Another Time

Right place, right time, right car, right…camera? As the years march on, an increasing number of cars are being built with a degree of era-correctness that the casual observer may peg as obsessive. From big elements like rolling stock to smaller parts like waterslide decals and Rajah clips, they all play into the traditional rod and custom equation. But when the lacquer dries and the year-of-manufacture plates are finally bolted on—how do you capture it in the most fitting way?

Well, you can capture it on film. The masters of our industry have been doing it in print as well as online for years. Saying I’m a novice film photographer would be a gross overstatement. All inexperience aside, I’ve spent the past few weeks ogling over the excellent threads of H.A.M.B.ers using film to capture period correct hot rods in a very traditional medium. Cases in point, check out this Race of Gentlemen thread here and the growing film and hot rods thread here.

Sometimes you just get the shot—the one where the elements line up and its difficult to tell when exactly the image was taken. There’s an absence of clutter and distraction, parts and pieces that could throw things off. These are the photos taken in the now that even the sharpest-eyed viewer couldn’t differentiate from the then.

A few months ago, I was sent one of those, and although it’s a far cry from the dry lakes or Atlantic Boulevard, it’s meaningful in its own right. The photo was snapped last year by my brother in the suburbs of Lawton, Oklahoma. Mixing a cheap camera, his neighbor’s Chevy and some nearly expired 35mm film, he framed the shot and fired away. I’d wager that he captured a moment that’s frozen in a hot summers day in the mid-’60s. See what I mean? Right time, right place, right car, right camera.

—Joey Ukrop

Photo by Andrew Ukrop