The following series of images were shot for my college (Lambton College, Sarnia, ON) final project for a subject (popular culture for photographers) in my first term. The criteria of the project was to shoot any theme of our choice but have to be very passionate about, hence the vintage cars. Presenting, my passion project, fifth wheel.
I’m calling this “Fifth Wheel” because this story shines light on all of the car owners you see on this blog and of The Sarnia Street Cruisers and their active participation in giving to the community.
Sarnia Street Cruisers
The Sarnia Street Cruisers is a group of car owners, be it vintage, classic or modern in and around Sarnia. It initially started off as a small group of approximately 12 guys who wanted to cruise in their classics. As it expanded in number through the Covid-19 Pandemic, organisers and directors started organising events that supported the community’s local businesses that had been effected due to the pandemic’s restrictions. It’s all about the love for the cars, friends and family and the love and support for the community.
Car Show & Cruise-in
Dave Bell (image above) here has been hosting his family’s private car show since 2017 with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. A lot of members of the Sarnia Street Cruisers were at Dave’s show for a good cause, raising funds for charity!
Crew Canatara
Members of the Sarnia Street Cruisers and even non-members, drive upto Canatara Park in Point Edward every Thursday of every week except during extreme weathers and through the winter season. Everyone gather up, meet and chill with their buddies and just have a good time with each other and their cars.
The why/who/what when/where/which
I have always been interested in all things vintage and old. It's funny how a lot of things about cars, music, art, etc that was considered normal some decades ago is only considered “artsy”, “aesthetic”, “cool” and expensive now. I would give anything to just experience what was once considered, normal.
Since 2020, I have been making sincere efforts and attempts to collect and preserve vintage items like Cameras, Records, Typewriters etc. I enjoy collecting them for a lot of money and even use them once in a while, ha. I took the opportunity of the Passion Project as rather a challenge because all the pictures displayed here are shot on 35mm film, something I personally enjoy and have a lot of love for.
I’m inclined to this kind of work since almost 5 years. Now, the reason I started moving towards analog photography is because of the profound photographic processes it involves. Even though I possess very little knowledge about the medium, I’ve often found myself more comfortable shooting film and I’ve found that it helps me connect better with people I photograph. I enjoy a good story line and documentary photography regardless of the medium used to capture it. It’s personally very intriguing when I shoot film because there’s always so much to share and talk about.
I strongly believe that along with the skill and knowledge, you have to find yourself at “the right place at the right time” to make the photograph. My workflow is very simple like my work. I never plan too much, I’d rather go with the flow and level of comfort of the person or even simply the overall look and feel of any scene I’m photographing. I like it to be more raw and natural rather than getting them out of their element. I’ve changed my approach because I understand being put in a spot with expectations of doing things well and doing them right can be difficult. I struggled and even refrained from trying to make effective and engaging conversations with people in fear of being rejected or turned down.
This project motivated me to step out of my comfort zone, approach people and use various different platforms to reach the goal of effectively communicating and keeping it engaging successfully complete this project.
I do the work that I do not only to tell a story or a series of stories. It means a great deal that I get to listen to the people telling them, almost on a personal level. I enjoy listening to them and imagining them in my head and it gives my subjects a sense of relief that people do listen and that very feeling is what I go looking for when I shoot. According to me, that is my “right place at the right time”. This is the work I want to continue doing simply because it gives me the satisfaction I really seek. As mentioned earlier, communicating with strangers is a challenge in itself, but when you establish the connections and the trust, you know you’re going to get something great out of it.
I believe it is patience and persistence and all else will follow.
Learnt the hard way, I encountered some challenges while shooting for this project, maybe sharing it will help you out. If you’re going out to shoot, please carry a few copies of the model release forms with you, you will never know what you’ll find. If you don’t have them, you will “find” yourself following up with 25 people to sign it for you after.
If you need to spend money, list out the things you will need well ahead so you don’t end up overspending for things like film processing like I had to.
The highlight is that there are strangers out there who will help you. Make use of any resources at your disposal, have a little faith and just approach it, you’ll be surprised like I was. I used Reddit to reach out to anyone who could help me with vintage cars in Sarnia, and this gentleman, Kip McMillan (image above) helped me and I couldn’t have thanked him enough of introducing me to Dave Bell. It worked out perfectly and I would’ve never imagined I could get help from some platform I thought was only for memes and vines.
end.
