Push your own personal limits, experience incredible performance, and savor every moment. The AMG Driving Academy offers a wide range of training courses for different target groups. MATTHEW JONES photographed the new look of the Mercedes-Benz AMG Performance Academy on commission for Publicis Sapient in Atlanta.
“In early January, I was contacted by a production agency to capture on-set stills in tandem with a motion production to showcase the all-new Mercedes-Benz AMG line.
While in most cases, shooting stills alongside broadcast can often be nightmarish, I was pleasantly surprised to find the amount of freedom and support this particular situation provided. With the executive agency’s absolute trust, I was left alone to create whatever I wanted while specific cars were not being used by the main production.
Within this freedom, I used the opportunity and dramatic atmosphere as an experimental period to create a series of images that reflect the exact aesthetic I’ve been pushing to be adopted within the automotive industry – raw, fashion-forward imagery brimming with poise, aggression and an elevated sense of luxury.
The idea of wiping down the car for the prefect photograph as we do with a piece of furniture in a studio has found it’s way to the bottom of the agenda and has been replaced with seeking realistic moments within the subject’s true element. The lines are blurred with speed, particles of shredded rubber left on the fender wells, the lighting is harsh and progressive and the droplets of rain left exactly where they lie.
To complete this experimental study and draw any attraction from those outside of my own thought process, I felt context would be absolutely necessary. In doing so, I began thoughtfully designing elements around the images under the idea of The Mercedes-Benz AMG Performance Academy for an elevated final presentation.”