Interview With Photo Artist Bill Pack
Secret Classics as an exclusive marketplace and digital showroom always looks out for very special themes and subjects, persons and things from the classic car scene. These are used for articles in our online magazine, so you are able to participate. Today we would like to introduce to you Bill Pack, a reknown car-photographer from the US with a very nice skill of showing shapes and design in his pictures. He calls it 'Painting with Light' and got international recognition for this. It is a technique in which illumination is applied to a subject by moving a light source over its surface while taking a long-exposure image. It's more like painting than normal photography – a process of layering and sculpting with light that enhances a car's shape and lines, makes details pop against the blackest of shadows and reveals the design intent and emotion behind each classic car's form.
To introduce Bill Pack to you, we did a short interview. He gives us (and you) a little insight into his work and also announces his first book.
Secret Classics: “Please introduce yourself in just two sentences.”
Bill Pack: “First, thank you for your interest in my art and the opportunity to share it with your readers. I love the design and direction you are taking with Secret Classics. I am artist and image maker Bill Pack. I create Automotive Art imagery of rare classic and collector cars.”
SC: “How did you start your work?”
BP: “I started my career as an advertising photographer in San Francisco, CA. It was during these years that I developed my love for design and lighting.”
SC: “Did you start photographing in your youth already?”
BP: “I developed a love for photography in high school. I set up a darkroom in our basement and started developing film and making prints. It was a great creative outlet. After high school, I was accepted into the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. I was taught a strong foundation of the photographic process, of how light worked with film and photographic paper. I learned how to create what I saw in my mind's eye and produce that image on film.”
SC: “How did you come up with your outstanding idea of this special kind of photography?”
BP: “It began as an appreciation for automotive design. When I first combined my lighting and design with a rare classic car, it produced something quite special.”
SC: “What makes it so special?”
BP: “I approach cars from the perspective of a designer. I present familiar subjects in a different light, from a different point of view. My images are deliberately designed and lit, to evoke an emotion. Basically, it is a lot of hard work that produces what I hope, will be received as art.”
SC: “And how do you want to develop it further?”
BP: “I am always exploring and experimenting. That is what I love about photography. Regardless of how skilled or accomplished an artist is, there is always something new to discover. The process is continual, where it leads me I really can not say.”
SC: “Explain a typical day at work.”
BP: “There really is not a typical day. That is what I love about the creative process.
A day can range from viewing a private collection to working on my computer doing post-production work from a past commission. They range from hearing the history and stories of a car while it has been in the present owners care, to presenting a completed commission to a client. There is something special about the days when I am alone with the car in the dark, with just my camera and my lights. It is here that I sculpt out with my lighting the lines of the car's designer. I always look to present those lines in a different light. Wayne Carini says ”All of your images bring out shapes in cars I have not seen before.”
SC: “How many car photo shootings do you do per year?”
BP: “My average is about 55 cars per year.”
SC: “Has there been any car shooting you've liked very much?”
BP: “That is a hard question. I love the creative process and with each car I find images that were unexpected. That is what excites me, always wondering, what will I discover today?”
SC: “Is there any car in the world you would like to take pictures of?”
BP: “I would love to do a series with the Franco Scaglione designed Alfa Romeo BAT (Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica) prototypes, number 5, 7 and 9. The design and lines are so unique. I believe they would surrender some fabulous imagery.”
SC: “If you could wish something what project would it be to work on?”
BP: “One project is an installation of automotive art, to be exhibited at galleries and museums. A “Movable Creative Feast” if you will, of Automotive Art imagery that features the lines of the designer.”
SC: “What are additional targets and projects for the future? You told us
about your idea of an Automotive Art Section at Secret Classics, can you
explain it a bit more?”
BP: “With an Automotive Art feature I want to give a brief backstory of the designer, then let my imagery tell the emotional visual story. Thus creating a visual essay that allows the viewer to appreciate and understand the car and designer on a different level, becoming experiential. It is not just looking at a car photograph, but experiencing an emotion. This creates a deeper appreciation for the craft and skill of the designers and builders who brought these works of art into a tangible reality."
SC: “When will the Automotive Art Section start?”
BP: “I have several series all ready to go.”
SC: “You just finished working on your first book, what can we expect?”
BP: “We are very excited about this project. It started out as a promotional book for me to use as my portfolio. I attend various Concours d’Elegance’s around the country. Invariably each time I have the book out, a group of people gather around asking where they can buy a copy. So that started the process of designing a book to sell.
We are running a Kickstarter Campaign to publish V12’s inaugural book of Automotive Art. This will be the first of many volumes.
Lionel Fierreira has created a fantastic design for the book. He has given the book a tactical quality of surfaces that I just love. To me, it’s not just about graphic design when viewing a book, but also how does it feel in your hands. What is the experience one has when viewing the book? What senses are engaged? Lionel has created something that is experiential, and in my mind, it is perfect.
The Kickstarter Campaign runs for 25 days. The purpose of the campaign is to invite people to be a part of this art project. It’s not just buying a book, but having a role in its creation. Bringing a community together to produce something that did not exist. I invite your readers to join us and be apart of the process.”
HERE YOU CAN FIND THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
SC: “Dear Bill, it was a pleasure and a great honour for us having the opportunity for this interview. It has been fascinating to get all the information about you and your work and to look behind the scenes. Before we close I would like to ask you a final question. What do you like about Secret Classics and its approach?”
BP: “I think the team from Secret Classics and myself share the same passion for classic cars and have the ambition to share this with the whole scene and beyond. Beside that I like creative and innovative people who are hungry in developing things further. And Secret Classics and its whole concept of promoting classic cars in a highly emotional and passionate way, bringing high quality statements to the market to deliver best quality to its customers as well as having a unique variety of exclusive and exceptional products, services and information for classic car enthusiasts is absolutely the right way and the “missing link” in the whole scene. Therefore the term “digital showroom for classic cars and the automotive lifestyle that goes with it” does perfectly match and pointing out what Secret Classics is to build up during the upcoming months. For sure there is still a way to go, but I am absolutely confident that the team will make it. And I am happy to be a part of it.”
SC: “Bill, thank you very much and we are looking forward to read more about you, your work and projects as well as to discover your Automotive Art Section.”