Stills

I have to admit that I have struggled with this. I can make out shapes but they don't engage, nor am I overly curious to see what is under the cover: it doesn't hold any mystery. Maybe I'm missing something but my overwhelming impression is that this composition isn't the best one for the subject matter.
 

A car with a flat tire?
 

Not quite flat :)
 

More like a car-that-hasn't-been-driven-for-a-while. But the cover looks too clean for that so maybe a slow puncture!
 

Unlike some people I know, I have no special relationship or kind feelings toward cars. Inanimate objects are usually not that interesting to me, and this covered "beast" qualifies. I'm not even curious about what is under the cover or why the tire is going flat!

So what is left for me is only the shapes and design of the picture. I can appreciate the diagonal lines and simplicity of the shapes, but the second car at the top doesn't help. I think I might prefer this without that top section, or if that car was not there.
 

Not ringing my bells.

As a composition, I think you have either not enough, or a bit too much. The third and fourth vehicles (being the ?van right and the ?bike left) intrude without adding.

The basic idea of the treasured old car and the utility new car is sound,
 

When I walked passed the car I immediately saw a crocodile's head shape being made by the sheet. I was also trying to do a car picture which had no relevance to the car... Back to the drawing board methinks.

Appreciate the honest and candid feedback, really helps me out when I'm trying out shots like this. This is why I still find Stills such a valuable forum.
 

I knew that I was missing something! I now see your crocodile. I imagine that wherever one places the car in one's cultural hierarchy will determine how far the brain can step past 'car'. In my case, not much. Your crocodile connection I like; trying to say that this is a car picture with no relevance to the car escapes me!
 

'with no relevance to the car'

John: I was trying to remember (my my fuzzy memory does tend to let me down) something that Colin alluded to with respect to photographs of cars. 'Relevance' may not have been how he termed it but enough of a spark ignited in me to take up his challenge.
 

I can't remember Colin's exact phrase either but I would be surprised if it was achievable within the scope of those words - although it might depend on the viewer.
 

This?

Does anybody know of any recent body of photography where the car (auto, light truck, ute, etc) is used well as a part of the composition? I’m not talking about pictures of cars, but pictures which happen to include cars.

Feb 1st on Photostream. I had to google to find it :-)
 

Heh, it does look like a crocodile's head. Couldn't see it before you mentioned it, but now that I know it's there, it's all I see. Before I knew what I was looking at, all I could see were the higlights on the right and the white car in the background.
 

Thanks Colin. So does this cut the mustard or do I need to try some more?
 

There is a phenomenon that we came across in Australia - the logadile. Something which is floating in the river and the tourists (us) are convinced is a croc, but which isn't. It is a useful concept.

Meanwhile, back to the cars.....

I think that this relies too heavily on the fact that this is an exceptional car to fully pass the cj car test. More car as fetish object than everyday object. In a way it makes my point about how invisible cars are in art terms. The van and the white car are our everyday experience, but what caught your eye, logadiles apart, was the relic.

I've been thinking more about this subject (long drive yesterday). One of the visual elements of my home area is the LandRover. Through its various iterations over the last 50 years it has been as iconic as the more famous assorted American cars. They just get into the movies less. So, a landscape with LandRover project? Maybe.
 

Funny how just knowing what you saw suddenly brings it into view and makes it all so much more interesting! I wonder how it would have been received had you titled it as "Crocodile"? Although I now see that we had a hint with the question mark. Amusing.
 

To me this is all about the act of concealment, with a tempting flash of the forbidden, a bit like a split up the side of an oriental dress, more enticing and interesting than the nude.

To emphasise that feeling I would have cropped out the car in the top, but then it would have been a different picture, and 'mine'

:-)