{"id":406720,"date":"2026-01-13T16:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406720\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T16:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:30:12","slug":"photographer-captures-people-with-their-cars-in-stark-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/406720\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer Captures People With Their Cars in Stark Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FourLulu, accountmanager; Gladys, flebotomist; Alanna, student and Cristina, bus driver | Chevrolet. Los Angeles, US <\/p>\n

A photographer used a large white background to isolate people and their cars for a project he calls Homo Mobilis. <\/p>\n

Photographer Martin Roemers\u2019<\/a> epic work took him all over the world, and he has now released the project in book form. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Homo Mobilis, I take the vehicle as a way to look at our society today,\u201d Roemers explains. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe mass motorisation of the 20th century has changed the world dramatically. In recent decades, there has been a shift in thinking about transportation and the era of the polluting combustion engine is coming to an end. The \u2018machine age\u2019 is giving way to a new era of mobility.\u201d <\/p>\n

It is against this backdrop that Roemers explores the intricate relationship between humans and their vehicles, examining how mobility, as a cornerstone of modernity, shapes identities and societies. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis has resulted in a typology of vehicles with their drivers against a stark white background. This deliberate removal from their usual context invites viewers to contemplate the deeper narratives that these vehicles carry,\u201d Roemers says. <\/p>\n

\u201cVehicles are more than mere modes of transportation; they are powerful symbols of status, culture, and personal identity. A vehicle can be merely functional for some but for others it so much more: it becomes a crucial part of who they are.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FourA\u00efcha, Yvonne, Fatimata and Becaye, car sales staff. Dakar, Senegal \"AAbdul, carpet repair man. Premier Padmini (car brand); Mumbai, India \"ABush taxi, taxi brousse. Mor, bus driver; passengers Ndoube, A\u00efda, Gora, Abdou and Macoura. Renault. Segeul Thioune, Senegal <\/p>\n

The photographer says that by isolating these subjects in a neutral space, he aims to \u201cstimulate the viewer to realize that they assign an identity and a certain kind of status to the person in the image based on their vehicle.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis project does not only look at the self-identification of the subjects but rather focuses on the observer\u2019s interpretation,\u201d he continues. \u201cThe symbiotic relationship between individuals and their vehicles often reflects broader societal dynamics \u2014 whether in Europe or North America, Africa or Asia \u2014 such as environmental issues, gender or class identity. Through this work, I hope to evoke reflection on our reliance on vehicles and how they have come to be linked to our own and others\u2019 identities.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ADylan, welder, goes hunting | Toyota. Wilson, North Carolina, USA
\n \"ACarl, musician, lives in a car | Honda, Santa Monica, California, USA \"AZenovyl, truck driver and Vasil, assistant. ZIL (truck brand). Lviv, Ukraine \"ASunny, chicken vendor | Bajaj, Nashik, Maharashtra, India \"TwoSasha and Brett, drag queens | Toyota, Santa Monica, California, USA \"AZirui, aircraft engineer and Yi, graphic designer Shanghai, China <\/p>\n

\"Book<\/p>\n

Homo Mobilis is published by Lannoo Publishers. <\/p>\n

Image credits: Photographs by Martin Roemers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lulu, accountmanager; Gladys, flebotomist; Alanna, student and Cristina, bus driver | Chevrolet. Los Angeles, US A photographer used…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,16591,86073,12041,49,48,581,356,75,23476,7460],"class_list":["post-406720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-automobile","tag-automobiles","tag-book","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cars","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-photoproject","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}