Book Description
Girls and cars . . . or, more specifically, girls and hot rods. They go together like PBR and barbecue. Like humbuckers on a hollow-body, or pinstriping on primer. Since 1991, photographer David Perry has been feverishly distilling this timeless truth with an eye like no other. From Sac Town to Mirage, from O.C. to Paso, Perry’s images of drag-strip groupies, girlie grease monkeys, and backseat betties qualify as much more than your run-of-the-mill newsstand automotive cheesecake. Perry simultaneously evokes the great pin-up masters Vargas and Petty, the demented swagger of psychobilly, and the trashy glamour of alarmist JD pulp novels, B-movies, and that dusty stack of stag mags behind your granddaddy’s toolbox. Hot Rod Pin-ups features Perry’s very finest riffs on the cars-n-chicks theme, along with commentary by lowbrow-art and hot rod icon Robert Williams, Bay Area noir maestro Jim Nisbet, cultural commentator Eric Kroll, retro-rod scribe Kevin Thomson, and ! Gearhead Records honcho Mike LaVella. For good measure, the cars featured represent the likes of the George "King of Kustomizers" Barris, Vern Tardel, and Salinas Boy Cole Foster, among others. David Perry has been burning film since he was 10 years old. Born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Southern California, he studied photography at Art Center College of Design.His other books include Hot Rod (Chronicle Books, 1997) and Bordertown (Chronicle Books, 1998), both with writer Barry Gifford. Perry lives in Vallejo, California, with his wife Mary and son August. He drives a flathead-powered 1928 Ford hot rod and in 1999 helped resurrect the Swanx car club (est. 1956).
Hot Rod Pin-Ups FROM THE PUBLISHER
For as long as young men have been channeling, chopping, and hopping up rods and customs, women — whether loyal girlfriends or trouble-seeking "bad girls" — have been an integral to their scene. In this unique portfolio evoking great 1950s pin-up artists like Vargas and Elvgren, talented photographer David Perry depicts models in and out of cherry-picked rods and customs wearing painstakingly chosen period dress and hairstyles. More than 100 photos present these modern-day pin-ups under three themes: Garage, Cruising, and Race. In addition, essays explore each topic and are also accompanied by pulp novel covers, period mags, and ads that place the photography in a historical context. Captions identify the car owners, photo location, and, where appropriate, interesting car specs and histories.
Art & Photography
Book Info
