“Les Paul Thru the Lens”, an exclusive traveling gallery showcasing the life and career of Les Paul—musician, inventor, and icon—will open at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 15 to September 15, 2024. Visitors will experience a unique collection of rare photographs that chronicle the life of Les Paul. For the first time, the exhibit will also feature three original portraits by expressionist artist Leroy Neiman, never before displayed in a museum.

A Glimpse into Les Paul’s Life

The exhibit comprises 24 gallery-framed black-and-white photographs, spanning Les Paul’s life from childhood to his later career. It includes rare family photos, behind-the-scenes moments, and images of Les with his famous friends. Guests can follow along with web-initiated storylines detailing Les’ inventions, his Hollywood garage studio, and his appearances with Mary Ford. The exhibit offers fans a chance to see Les Paul in a way they never have before.

Photos Courtesy of Les Paul Foundation

Exhibition Details

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, located at 1100 East 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, 44114, will host the exhibit in its Roots Gallery. July and August hours are Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Thursdays to Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The exhibit is included with regular museum admission.

Celebrating Les Paul’s Legacy

“1988 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Les Paul’s creativity and innovation cannot be overstated and are foundational to rock and roll as we know it today,” said Rock & Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO, Greg Harris. “This carefully curated collection of photographs documents his incredible journey as a pioneer, mentor, and friend to other artists. We are grateful to the Les Paul Foundation for bringing this exhibit to Cleveland for fans to enjoy, and we are thrilled it will join our other featured exhibits celebrating the contributions of various artists.”

Michael Braunstein, Executive Director of the Les Paul Foundation, added, “Les was an icon whose inventions paved the way for musicians worldwide. His curiosity gave us the most important inventions in the music industry, which are still used today. We are thrilled to have this opportunity where guests of the Rock Hall will be able to experience Les’ life from early childhood to his career at all stages when they visit the exhibit. The rare photographs depict many important people and moments in Les’ life. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will also be the first venue to exhibit three extraordinary original art pieces created by expressionist artist Leroy Neiman. Les would be so happy to be back at the Rock Hall for this special engagement. We hope everyone who passes through the Hall’s doors gets to know and love Les Paul like we do.”

For more information and to purchase tickets for Les Paul Thru the Lens, visit RockHall.com.

About the Les Paul Foundation

The Les Paul Foundation honors and shares the life, spirit, and legacy of Les Paul by supporting music education, engineering, innovation, and medical research. As an IRC 501(c)3 organization, it awards grants to initiatives that uphold Les Paul’s legacy through music and sound programs serving youth. It also supports public exhibits, events, and music releases that celebrate Les Paul’s achievements. For more information, visit les-paul.com.

Follow Les Paul on social media:
Facebook: @OfficialLesPaul |Instagram: @lespaulofficial | Twitter: @lespaulofficial

About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates the history and impact of rock music through exhibits, memorabilia, instruments, costumes, and personal items from music’s greatest stars. Founded in 1985, the museum also hosts inductee ceremonies and offers interactive experiences, short films, and educational programs. Visit the Rock Hall in Cleveland or online at rockhall.com, and follow on social media:

Facebook: @rockandrollhalloffame | Instagram: @rockhall | Twitter: @rockhall |

TikTok: @RockHallFame | YouTube: @rockhall

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.

The countdown to the Olympic Games is on, and the world shifts focus to the multi-sport event which takes place in Paris this summer. From athletics to equestrian to diving, we explore the best and most versatile lenses for sports photography and crown the best camera body and lens combination for the job.

The Olympic Games have a long history, going back to 776 BC in ancient Greece. Normally held every four years on a leap year, this major multi-sport event sees the best athletes in the world represent their respective countries, eventually leading to gold medal-winning performances that leave us mere mortals in awe of the talent, strength, and hard work that go hand in hand with their success. When it comes to coverage of the Olympic Games, the best of the best equipment is used by photographers shooting the event to capture every key moment of action and celebration. From the split-second finish of a 100-meter sprint to the precise landing of a gymnast, having the right lens can make the difference between a good shot and a once-in-a-lifetime capture that tells the story of the Games in a single frame.

At a major event such as this, speed and quality are vital considerations. Only the best will do. Upgrading your equipment can be a costly exercise, but it is vital to have the right tools for the job when it comes to sports photography to ensure that you can get in close enough to the action and succeed in freezing the moment. Fast telephoto lenses do not come cheap; however, there is a way to help keep the cost to a minimum. It is no secret that many photographers now buy gently used products rather than new in order to maximize their kit within budget, and MPB offers a convenient service for buying and selling used photography equipment.

In the spirit of the Olympics, take this article as some healthy competition between camera brands, and lens types, each battling it out to see who comes out on top. I had a browse through MPB‘s website and gathered some equipment for your consideration in sports photography.

The Starting Line-Up of Sports Lenses

The Workhorse: Nikon Nikkor Z 70-180mm f/2.8

Suitable for many events, amongst many others, the Nikon Z 70-180mm is a fantastic choice when it comes to sports. With its fast autofocus and excellent sharpness—even up close—this midrange telephoto lens comes straight out of the gate as a winning contender.

Pair this with the Nikon Z9, and you have a winning combination that can handle pretty much anything in view with world-class performance and solid reliability.

In Pole Position: Fujinon XF 200mm f/2 OIS WR with XF 1.4x WR Teleconverter

This lens is hailed as the ultimate lens for sport, action, and wildlife photographers. When you combine the FUJINON XF 200mm f/2 R LM OIS WR with the XF 1.4X TC WR teleconverter, you can reach action even further away, adding versatility to this amazing lens. This lens is incredibly sharp, even wide open at f/2, so you can be sure to capture the action from dawn to dusk.

Attach this lens to the Fujifilm X-H2 for a perfect pairing that combines quality, accuracy, and sharpness.

The Underdog: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sport 

When you are dealing with an event that has action across a wide geographical space, such as a football game, you need a telephoto zoom lens, and this Sigma offering is a perfect fit. With a focal length range from 150mm to 600mm, you can be sure to capture every moment from track to field. 

Pair this Nikon fit lens with the Nikon D850 for a solid performance duo.

The Sure Bet: Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM

Canon’s EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM is still an amazing choice for sports photography. If you still shoot with your trusty DSLR body, such as the amazing Canon 5D Mark IV, then you can’t go wrong with this lens for bringing the action close to you. It’s sharp, it’s fast, it’s sturdy and reliable, which makes it a solid option for sports. It is on the pricey side; however, this lens is compatible with every EOS camera ever produced, when used with the appropriate lens adapter, so this option will survive regular gear upgrades.

The Camera Body and Lens Worthy of the Gods of Olympus

In honor of Zeus, the king of Olympus, I have chosen what I consider the king combination of camera body and lens for sports photography. If you want to shoot full-resolution raw and JPEG images with AF/AE tracking at a lightning-fast 120 frames per second, with pin sharp focus, the Sony a9 III body and Sony FE 100-400mm G Master OSS super telephoto lens is the combination for you.

The AF system on the Sony a9 III has 759 on-sensor phase detection points which cover around 95% of the imaging area and can focus down to -5 EV. It is capable of recognizing human subjects through posing as well as eye and face detection. This means that even if the person’s head is turned away, it will still detect the subject as human. This has been made possible through AI deep learning. Did I mention that the a9 III is also capable of focusing on helmets rather than heads? With all of that in mind, the Sony a9 III comes out on top specifically for sports photography.

The lens of choice to pair with the Sony a9 III has to be Sony’s FE f/4.5-5.6 100-400mm GM OSS super-telephoto zoom lens. This premium G Master series super telephoto zoom lens provides fast, precise autofocus; it lets you capture distant action with outstanding quality and immediacy. Such high-quality professional optics ensure consistency across the frame at any focusing distance throughout the zoom range. For its size, this lens is relatively lightweight at only 1,395g, which allows photographers to move with the action as needed.

Honorable Mention

Brand new on the market, this article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a close contender for the prosumer market, the newly released Nikon Z6 III. Boasting significant upgrades over the Z6 II, this lightweight full frame camera has borrowed some of its features from the high-end Nikon Z8 and introduced a new 24.5MP partially stacked CMOS sensor. It offers up to 60 fps JPEG in full resolution and 120 fps with an APS-C crop, further solidifying its appeal for capturing fast-paced moments, making it an excellent choice for sports and action photography.

Pair this camera with the fantastic Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S, and you have an extremely versatile sports setup, whether you are shooting at the Olympic Games or your child’s school sports event.

At the time of writing, there were no Nikon Z6 III camera bodies available as yet on MPB as they are so new. However, stock changes quickly, and there will be many photographers who buy to try, then trade in on MPB as they move on to their next camera body.

That’s the beauty of buying and selling secondhand camera equipment: you can upgrade and switch systems for a much lower cost than buying new, allowing you to explore your photographic pursuits at a much faster pace. After all, the needs of a photographer can change regularly, sometimes from job to job, contract to contract. Included with each purchase is complete peace of mind with a generous six-month warranty, making MPB a natural choice for trading and upgrading your photography equipment. Why work with what you’ve got when you can work with what you need?

I have tried to include something for everyone, with different budgets and needs. But is your winning combination missing from this article? What are your go-to lenses for sports photography, and what sports do you cover?

The longest video, at around 19 minutes, features a handful of slow, panning shots, tracking a spiral of white string as it floats on the surface of a shallow creek. The camera cuts only when the string is on the verge of unraveling from its spiral form, which, spoiler alert, it does at the very end, stretching out across the water in a wavering line. This cycle of expansion and contraction, negotiating the limits of human control over the natural environment, is reminiscent of meditative breathing. The final shot is an exhalation, a relinquishing of control to Lee’s natural collaborator.

Another video is a static shot of a large, flat stone, over which Lee continually spins a forked stick like a dowsing rod or divination tool, its spinning shadow echoing the spiral motif. Her hand remains out of frame, occasionally flickering into view. Here again, the tension between human intervention and natural course is evident.

Lee’s practice hovers somewhere between a conservative brand of land art and performance documentation, in company with Andy Goldsworthy’s dust drawings, Ana Mendieta’s impressions in grass and Robert Smithson’s photographs of overturned rocks — all artworks that were eventually overtaken by nature.

A series of three photographs, Untitled Rock Drawing III, dot the gallery walls. Each shows a spiral drawn in water on the surface of a flat rock, the drawing fading more and more in the direct sunlight, leaving only the photographs behind. These pictures read almost like stills from a video in their own right, inviting the viewer to pace their own experience as they move through the gallery, activating Lee’s magic trick of manipulating time.

Lee recently participated in two projects connecting artists with the outdoors, which informed the work in Currents. The first was a Land Arts of the American West residency, which involved a two-month camping trip across the Southwest to famous land art locations — from Michael Heizer’s Double Negative to Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty — and a nuclear test site. She was also an “artist researcher” in Unseen California’s inaugural cohort, an initiative through the University of California Santa Cruz that “engages the public land of California as an outdoor artist studio and classroom laboratory.”

Lee says she’s still processing these experiences in her work. “I spent two months living outdoors and now I’m home and I’m drawing spirals on rocks,” she says, laughing.

And it’s this process of exploration and examination that the image of the spiral evokes, the circular logic of endless questioning turning in on itself.

“It’s not about finding anything,” Lee says. “It’s just about the act of searching or looking.”

But the lack of a clear destination doesn’t necessarily make a search purposeless.

One mystical parallel to this kind of artistic practice would be apophatic theology, also known as negative theology. The practice, common in Christian mysticism, attempts to define God by everything that they are not, the idea being that what remains in relief of the infinite “not” is the closest we can come to defining the divine.

Lee’s work evokes the sublime tradition in landscape art, an embodied conceptual experience “prioritizing another level of experience and understanding and knowledge,” she says. Here, it is cosmic and geological at once, containing both light years and deep time, expanding the definition of landscape photography to metaphysical considerations. The topographies in Currents are the contours of a divine experience that borders the limits of human comprehension.

‘Currents’ is on view at Cushion Works (3320 18th St., San Francisco) through Aug. 10, 2024.

Whether you’ve decided to focus on travel photography or you just want to level up your travel photos, the right lens is crucial to getting the job done. You don’t want to miss getting the best shots, whether you want to showcase the beauty of your destination, capture interesting personalities, or document the best of local life.

However, if you’re new to the craft and are yet to get a travel lens, picking one or two from all the choices available can be confusing. There are also a lot of considerations — such as the kind of photos you want to take, the places you will travel to, and the kind of travel you’ll be doing. Finally, you don’t want to spend too much on your first travel lens. But fret not — this quick guide should hopefully help you make the best choice.

This post is sponsored by MPB

What makes a good travel photography lens for beginners?

But first, you might be wondering what makes a good lens for travel photography. What qualities should you be looking for when shopping around for such lens? How do they make photography easy for you when you travel?

Since the advent of mirrorless cameras, lenses in general have become more compact. However, some of these lenses can still be a bit unwieldy for travelers. Also, there’s the temptation to bring several extra lenses along with you, just in case they come in handy during the trip. So, in a nutshell, you want an all-around lens that is light, compact, and easy to operate. Let’s break that down a bit below.

Versatility

When you’re out traveling, you’ll come across a variety of subjects and shooting situations. You want to be ready for them. A versatile zoom lens or a prime lens you’re comfortable moving around with will allow you to work through the scenes as quickly as possible.

Size and weight

You’ll be doing a lot of walking and moving around during your days out, so you don’t want to be lugging around a heavy lens. Just imagine carrying kilos of equipment during a hike! You can probably manage with two small lenses, one on your camera and another in your bag. But even just one long, heavy lens equipped on your camera will tire you out halfway through a busy day of seeing and photographing the sights.

Simplicity

As with many things, when you’re just getting into travel photography, you don’t want to make things too complicated. It may seem like a great idea to jump straight into a pro-level lens with all its bells and whistles. But when taking travel photos, you want to work with something you’ve already mastered, so you get the shots you want as quickly and accurately as possible. So, it’s best to start with a lens that is reliable and versatile enough for the field, yet simple enough for a beginner to get the hang of.

Now that we have that all sorted out, here are the top five lenses to consider if you’re new to travel photography. They’re great for the kinds of shooting conditions and scenarios that you’ll generally encounter during your adventures. If you’re still looking for your first travel lens, it’s definitely a good option to buy secondhand from a reputable platform like MPB. Not only will you have access to professionally assessed gear for less, but you’ll also get free shipping and a free six-month warranty on your gear purchase.

A quick caveat

One more thing — the list below shows focal lengths for full-frame cameras. So, if you’re shooting with a crop sensor camera, you’ll get photos with a “magnified” field of view. For example, if you’re shooting with a 35mm lens, you’ll end up with a cropped image that looks more like it was taken with a 50mm or 70mm lens (roughly) on a full-frame camera. So, when buying a lens for your crop sensor camera, you’ll want to take note of the crop factor of the camera and the full frame equivalent of your prospective lens. Full-frame cameras and lenses are also more expensive, but their crop sensor equivalents are more compact and lightweight.

First on the list is the 24-70mm. Most professional photographers consider it as the best choice for an all-in-one lens for travel photography. It has a flexible focal length range that allows you to go wide for more sweeping scenes, or get a little bit of reach for getting close to your subjects.

If you want something as versatile as the 24-70mm but want to go a bit wider, the 18-50mm should do the job for you. This is a great option if you plan to do a lot of landscape photography or cityscape photography during your trip.

Next are some of the most popular prime lenses for travel photography. Many photographers prefer working with primes because they find it easier to work with just one focal length instead of fiddling around with the controls of the zoom lenses or switching to a different lens altogether.

The wide field of view of the 28mm is great for taking a variety of sweeping shots, whether you’re in the city or the great outdoors. Many professional photographers also prefer this lens when they need to go wider since it doesn’t distort the perspective the way wider focal lengths do. So if you’re planning to take a lot of wide indoor shots or architectural details, this lens is the best for the job.

Many travel photographers also do a lot of street photography during their trips. So if you’re visiting a city with plenty of street photography opportunities, you may want to pack a 35mm prime lens with you. Working with a single focal length will help you shoot faster and focus on the scenes happening around you, so you don’t miss a shot!

Finally, if you’re traveling with friends and family, you’ll surely want to take great travel portraits of them as well. Take advantage of the stunning locations and pack a 50mm lens with you. But of course, the so-called Nifty Fifty isn’t just great for portraits. It’s also a great all-around prime lens that you can use to capture a variety of scenes and subjects.

Depending on the kind of photos you want to take, your budget constraints, and even your baggage allowance, you may want to mix and match lenses from the list above. Some photographers prefer taking with them two compact prime lenses, while others find it more comfortable working with a versatile zoom lens. Hopefully, this quick beginner’s guide will help you make the best lens choices, and ultimately, get awesome travel photos!

P.S. Later on, when you feel like exploring more advanced options, check out these all-in-one zoom lens recommendations for travel photography!

I only just got to Nobody Waved Goodbye, a collection of unpublished photographs from New York’s countercultural underground in the 1970s, and not a moment too soon: the Kickstarter ends today. You’d better get on it now, if you fancy it, because I need this book: photos not yet seen of David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Nico, Andy Warhol, Grace Jones and many others.

Bobby Grossman’s personal selection of rare and previously unpublished photographs of the New York Underground of the 1970s through the 90s. His subjects include Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Jeff Buckley, Nico, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Grace Jones, William Burroughs, Duncan Hannah, Fab 5 Freddy, Talking Heads, Devo, Cookie Mueller, Brigid Berlin, Klaus Nomi, Jim Carroll, Ronnie Cutrone, Iggy Pop, Glenn O’Brien, Ramones, Danny Fields, Jackie Curtis, Rene Ricard, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Suicide, and Stiv Bators, with a new introduction by Carlo McCormick!

Some tasters from the campaign page:

It’s only $45 too, for the softcover.

Nobody Waved Goodbye [Kickstarter]

Sam Craft, Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing and Communications multimedia team lead, earned high honors in the annual photo competition and was recognized at the University Photographers’ Association of America, UPAA, conference in Provo, Utah.

The UPAA, an international organization of college and university photographers dedicated to applying and practicing photography in higher education, chose three multimedia creations by Craft to honor photographic excellence.

“UPAA’s recognition of Sam’s work is well deserved and a testament to how authentic visuals tell a brand story,” said Katherine Hancock, assistant vice chancellor for marketing and communications for Texas A&M AgriLife. “He is a true leader in visual media not only across Texas A&M AgriLife but all the land-grant university systems and higher education.”​​

Since joining Texas A&M AgriLife in 2020, Craft has led a team of photo and video professionals in the planning, creation and distribution of visual media, including photography, videography, audio productions and other multimedia materials to advance the Texas A&M AgriLife brand.

Bringing home the accolades

“It is truly an honor to have my work recognized by my peers in UPAA,” Craft said. “I work with phenomenal people, on and off my team at Texas A&M AgriLife, and we are fortunate to be encouraged to capture and tell visually engaging, dynamic and interesting content.”

Craftbrought home:

— First place for his photo of a dragonfly on an alligator head in General Features and Illustrations.

— Second place for his Down River Essay in Photo Essay.

— Fourth place for his Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management Essay in Photo Essay.

 For more examples of Craft and his team’s work, visit https://agrilife.photoshelter.com/index.

Creativity is a paradoxical pursuit: The craft of making requires vulnerability and a certain kind of tenderness or openness to the world around us. At the same time, putting our work out in the world today can take a shit ton of courage and tenacity. This is a space to shine a light on the folks who are straddling these tensions and making us all a little better with their art. —Brené

A rare black wolf named Geronimo with piercing yellow eyes stares straight into the camera, a two-toed sloth called Perry hangs upside down, hands clasped, patiently waiting for his portrait, a Bengal tiger, Shika, gracefully walks to her mark and turns towards the lens for her portrait to be taken by photographer Randal Ford. This collection of striking animal portraits became a coffee table book published by Rizzoli, called The Animal Kingdom. Ford’s large scale, limited-edition art pieces of animals also grace many personal homes and public spaces, like the powerful image of Bevo, a longhorn and the mascot of the University of Texas, that hangs proudly over Brené’s fireplace at her lake house. 

Ford, who has been honing his craft over the last 20 years, shooting major advertising campaigns for the likes of AT&T, Huggies, and Yeti, became interested in turning his camera from people to animals after a light bulb moment while capturing a dairy cow that he lit in the same style as his people portraits. He says: “The connection between photographer and subject is something I love. Just as with humans, when working with animals, I meticulously consider pose, lighting, framing, and composition. I try to create an environment of collaboration where everyone can speak up, be heard, and be part of the creation process.” 

Did you find this work or did it find you?

A little bit of both, I guess. In college, after taking a photography class, I began taking pictures for the school and local newspapers. I quickly became obsessed with photography, shooting everything from sports to news, and then fell in love with portraiture. I lucked out in a sense because I was already in the business school, so having a business perspective on an art career was and is still helpful. But the animal portraits really found me. 

Renowned designer DJ Stout of Pentagram commissioned me to photograph a series of dairy cow portraits in front of bright, poppy backgrounds. On a cold, rainy November day, we traveled to a small dairy farm and set up our studio lights and colored backgrounds. That day, we brought to life the personalities of those cows. And I saw the potential of translating my people’s portraiture into animal portraiture.

Randal is pictured holding Kotton the Swiss lamb; photography by Robert Amador.

Randal at work taking a portrait of a Suri alpaca; photography by Robert Amador.

What do you enjoy the most about creating?

I know everyone always talks about enjoying the journey and appreciating the process, which sometimes I do (sorta . . . maybe . . . occasionally). But contrary to that, I really appreciate the end result much more. I love that in art, that you have a tangible end result. Whether it be a book or photographic print, there is something so satisfying about having a result that can be shown, collected, felt, and immortalized. That tangible result fuels my creative soul.

Is there a part of the creative process that’s tougher for you than other parts?

Uncertainty often casts a shadow on my ability to truly appreciate the journey. My process, photographically, is very challenging and unpredictable. It’s that uncertainty that is tough for me. But photographers know that without darkness, we wouldn’t know what light is, and in the same sense, without the struggle and uncertainty, what I do wouldn’t be so fulfilling. It’s the contrast that makes the reward worthwhile. It’s experiencing the emergence from the dark that makes the light so magnificent. So I guess even though the journey is tough for me, it’s what makes it all worthwhile.

What are three words you would use to describe your creative process?

Precise, Intuitive, Uncertain

Whether it be a book or photographic print, there is something so satisfying about having a result that can be shown, collected, felt, and immortalized. That tangible result fuels my creative soul.

Putting your work out in the world can be hard. Do you ever wrestle with perfectionism and/or get sidelined by criticism?

Maybe it’s because I have a business educational background and a natural knack for marketing, but putting my work out there has not been hard for me. I know that without commerce, art does not exist, so shifting the mindset to “done is better than perfect” is an absolute must for artists who want to thrive. Don’t get me wrong, though; I still struggle with perfectionism and criticism, but I know it’s something you have to get over in order to make a career in creativity work.

Left: Randal is pictured in a gallery display of his work at the Austin Public Library; photography courtesy of Randal Ford. Right: The cover of Randal’s new book Farm Life, which is out September 2024, along with his first two books, Good Dog and Animal Kingdom; photography by Dave Creaney.” data-credit>

What’s one thing you’ve learned about leading a creative team? 

I think being enthusiastic about whatever you’re doing can be magnetic and really create a positive working process. If a team leader is positive and enthusiastic, there’s a trickle-down effect that I believe lends itself to a better final result.

Favorite bumper sticker? It can exist or you can make it up!

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

It’s experiencing the emergence from the dark that makes the light so magnificent.

There’s always more to a photo than what we see, as shown by standout exhibitions at this year’s Rencontres d’Arles in southern France.

For over two decades, photographer Benedict Redgrove has captured some of the most exciting, exotic, and rare cars in the world, and lucky for us they have all been showcased in a new book now live on Kickstarter.

Car photography is a genre that fascinates me, but the genre is often flooded with images that look similar. Enter Benedict Redgrove. A photographer who has forged a unique style of car photography that elevates the genre into a clean and crisp minimalist art form.

• See our guide to the best camera for car photography

Auto Photo Manual by Benedict Redgrove is a book comprised of over 250 captivating images, that not only highlight the beauty in each car’s form but take the viewer on a journey through the process of their creation.

Through insightful writing and photography, Redgrove captures the inception of the advertising campaign, through the shoot, and out the other side into post-production – precious inspiration for any budding commercial photographer!

Speaking on the book Redgrove says, “I wanted to make a book that shows the work and projects in their entirety. Often, I create a large body of work, but due to space or budget, only a few images are shown in magazines or campaigns. This way, I can release the full sets and talk about the how, why, when, and where of the images, which I often get asked about”.

The book is filled with stories and images of some of the most beautiful cars on earth, from classic concept cars to cutting-edge autonomous vehicles. The cars are highlighted by Redgrove’s graphic and architecture style, resulting in a stunning book that will appeal to not just photographers and car enthusiasts, but lovers of all things design.

The Kickstarter is now live and is well on its way to reaching its goal. The campaign has multiple tiered rewards for early backers including prints, postcards, and signed editions. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!

I am a huge fan of photography books that show the behind-the-scenes processes. I find gleaning valuable information from industry-leading professionals in books can elevate my photography and way of working (and you don’t always need to use a Phase One camera like Benedict Redgrove to do it!)