"In my novels I find that I very rarely write a car or a van or a lorry I always tend to specify the marque and the model, often with some pedantic precision. Why should this be so? After all, I am a non-driver, someone who claims to be able to drive (I did learn), but who never passed his driving test. And yet, paradoxically, I'm something of a car enthusiast a sort-of petrol-head, I confess"
"I have a conviction that the type of car, or vehicle, that you drive is as much an expression of your personality as the clothes you wear or the decor of the home you call your own. Even the blandest of mid-price cars the Toyota Prius, the Kia Picanto, the Volkswagen Jetta, for example are making a covert statement about you, the owner. You chose that car and your choice is surprisingly eloquent."
"All this is by way of a preamble to Martin Roemers' Homo Mobilis, a remarkable series of photographs of people posed with the various vehicles they drive. Moreover, these photographs, I would claim, bear out the thesis that the car, the van, the lorry, and so forth, are an extension of, and a window to, their owner's personality and, quite possibly, an indication of their value system as well."
Specific vehicle makes and models are often named rather than generic terms. Extensive exposure to minicab conversations cultivates detailed car knowledge and enthusiasm in non-drivers. Vehicle selection functions as an expression of personality and reflects owners' value systems, comparable to clothing choices or home decor. Even average mid-price cars communicate covert statements about their owners. Photographic portraits of people posed with their vehicles, shot across countries including the US, India, Ukraine, Senegal, the Czech Republic, China and the Netherlands, demonstrate that cars, vans, lorries and campervans act as extensions of and windows into owners' identities.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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