So I get an email, in French, from a guy name Alexandre, who visited my website. He tells me he is a photographer from Paris and is studying in Montreal. He shoots cars – check out his web site here.
Anyhow, I don’t know how he found my panterapassion, but in his email he tells me he loves the pics of my car on my site and asks if maybe I would be interested in new ones. He goes on to say that he knows Stephane Poux and has shot his Detomasos in Paris.
Well, I have no shortage of great shots of my car from Mark Charlton, a great photographer and my favorite creative dude. In fact, Canadian Pantera life would be memories and a blank page without Mark. But I am always up for something interesting and new.
On the other hand, my wife, ever the trusting soul, tells me that this is all BS and I’m going to get my car jacked if I actually make a plan to meet the stranger.
A dozen emails later, Alexandre sends me a list of locations where he would like to shoot my cat. I have a lot of beautiful Charlton pics, but nothing in dirty, rough, locations, which is what I notice about his list. My wife is now sure that I will be left in a dump somwhere, but I reply to Alexandre telling him to just give me a time and place.
One sunny day he sends a note and tells me where and when. I decide I’m not going to bother waxing and making the car perfect. But I do a little housekeeping and get out the duster, detailer and microfiber towels. Gleaming and clean a little while later I roll out into heavy traffic to find the location. He wants to shoot in late afternoon sun, which means freakin’ rush hour, in the heart of Old Montreal’s ancient industrial zone.
Actually, it’s busy and bumper to bumper in some sections getting there, but it's always great to have an excuse to get in the cat, right? I enjoy the drive and as I arrive at a barren, windblown warehouse row, a gust swirls around me and drops a layer of debris across my once gleaming car. Big deal. Not my problem.
In broken French I converse with Alexandre who talks very little but points me this way and that, tells me to turn the wheel this way or that and then starts shooting. A little while later we drive off to the next location and shoot some more, until we get chased off by some security guards. I tell him to call me and we’ll try and arrange some other locations another time.
The next day he sent me this pic.
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