Art of the Harley Davidson-Motorcycle by Dain Gingerelli |
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| Tuesday, 27 December 2011 09:21 | ||||
 This lavish hardback is sub-titled ‘Stunning Photographs of Legendary Motorcycles’ which really should be its main title because this Harley Davidson authorised book is just full of stunning shots from US photographer David Blattel. You know the one about a small wooden shed where three young men from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, William S. Harley, Arthur Davidson and his brother Walter created the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle? Well rest easy this is not a book like that at all! And, to ignore this new work though would be to miss out on an example of what exceptional motorcycle photography is all about, as much as seeing some historic bikes from Harley’s heritage. As you view over 100 images of bikes you realise just how clever the setting is and how the background fits the bike in terms of colour and style. It is definitely not a collection of bikes shoved in front of either overly fussy or non-descript back grounds. Blattel treats every photo shoot as a work of art, setting the iconic machines against beautifully chosen backdrops – where the machines themselves shine as works of art in their own right thanks to lighting and colour choices. It could be argued that having been doing it since 1989 and shooting for Harley Davidson’s calendars since, he has had plenty of time to get it right, but even so this is a class publication. Although divided into chapters based on themes like touring sport, competition models, the bikes are basically spread across two pages with Harley-Davidson expert and author Dain Gingerelli putting each machine in historical and technical context with informed profiles that expertly complement the magnificent full colour images. The end result is a fascinating combination of both an artistic and factual look at the history of this famous motorcycle, from the early 1900s to today, or in other words, an informative overview of Harley-Davidson's 100-plus years of style and innovation. The publishers Motorbooks have certainly put it all together well and this high quality book is certainly everything a coffee table tome should be. In addition is quite a useful reference work, more for the images than the text, which is understandably lightweight given the space available. Harley fans will of course love this, but I would urge anybody with ideas about becoming a motorcycle photographer to study this book and see exactly how it should be done and what attention to detail is all about! Well worth the moderate £27.50 cover price given the overall quality. ISBN: 9780-7603-4130-8 Available from all good bookshops or direct from the publisher Haynes at www.haynes.co.uk Review biy Ian Kerr
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