What is it about a vintage car, that no matter what condition it is in, it brings a feeling of warmeth?
Is it that because of our fast past lives of technology, that seeing something from a simpler day brings a since of longing? Is it that, as much as we thought the time which we were growing up was hard and troublesome, that in reality it was a great deal simpler, less uncomplicated and straightforward?
I am very tactile. I love to touch and smell the pages of a good book. I love to feel a paint brush in my hand while getting paint, pastel and charcoal under my nail beds. I love talking on the phone and hearing the sound of the persons voice. I love things that are made so well that they are able to be passed down for generations. I love holding a giant album cover so I can see all the details of the art the musician went into designing. I love the warmth that the sound of a record brings; the crackling and all. I loved the excitement of waiting for the Christmas specials to come on TV because that was the only time you would be able to see them until the next year. All these things are starting to slip away and I miss them.
When I saw this old beat up Mustang, the first thoughts that came to my mind were not, “what a piece of junk”. Instead I was filled with a since of nostalgia. I was brought back to my childhood. I could hear all the sounds, smell all the scents and feel that since of innocence that is so quickly lost in adulthood.
When I was a child my parents had only one car. That one car was a 1960’s VW bug. While the car for this shoot was a 60’s era Mustang, it held many of the same characteristics of that first car I remember and loved.
Our bug was that same light baby blue color which was only painted on cars during that time. The VW had the same large, hard, unpadded, white steering wheel. As I touched the little side triangle window, which opened to let in the air and allowed one to adjust the side mirror, I was throw back to the 1970’s. I was five years old, sitting in the front seat of the Volkswagen, listening to the sounds of the Carpenters. I sang along with that sweet, unmistakable sound of Karen Carpenters voice; the music wrapping around me with a feeling of safety and warmth, despite the fact that the car had no heater and I was not seated in today’s mandatory child car seats.
As I manually unrolled the window of the mustang in order to get the next shot, I could see myself as a child. I remembered how hard it seemed to turn the window handle around and around in order to roll it up and down. The same motion now brought a feeling that something was missing today. An action that was so simple, yet made things seem less mechanical and sterile.
Lately I have been feeling out of touch in the day and time I am living in.
I find myself shopping less at Nordstroms. I have begun searching through vintage stores, looking for something from the past. I search for a treasure that someone else deemed trash.
I discover myself becoming more and more like my mother and grandfather. I find pleasure in the act of setting a table for a dinner party. I notice a certain calm that comes from making a cup of tea and drinking it from a fine tea cup. The sound of birds which use to seem an annoying noise when I was a teenager because they woke me up, now conveys a connection to the natural world around me.
As I helped my Mother clean out my Grandfathers home after his passing, I noticed that despite the fact that the house had no upgrading since the day they had moved in during the 1950’s, it felt more perfect and whole then the new modernized home I live in. I could hear the laughter of the people that had crossed through their doorway. I could smell the warm pie that Grandma had made from scratch. I felt the simple peace which my Grandparents had lived in.
Amber you have a beautiful spirit and style that allowed me to remember all these things. Thank you for being such an amazing shoot. I know as you emerge into adulthood that you will bring as much warmth, passion and kindness to this world as you show now. Find your passion and pursue it with all your heart.
