Q&A with Life At Shutter Speed author Larry Chen

Over the past two decades, Larry Chen has been on the scene for the most iconic moments in car culture. Now, for the first time ever, his book Life At Shutter Speed collects them all in one place. In the Q&A below, Chen explains his motivation behind the project and what he hopes to accomplish.

WHY IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOUR BOOK?

Larry Chen: I love that there are so many round numbers associated with this book — 20 years, 400 pages and 2,000 photos. After two full decades the project serves as a bookend, in a way, to this period in my life and career. It’s something I’ve wanted to accomplish for many years, but the right partners and the right time to do it never came around. Until now.

HOW DID IT FEEL TO REVISIT YOUR EARLY WORK?

It was eye-opening, and changed the perspective of the project. I realized I wanted to take people through my career in reverse chronological order, to end with where it all began. Sifting through those photos brought back a lot of incredible memories and I was able to relive so many moments that became iconic in car culture.

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU NOTICED IN CAR CULTURE?

Car culture has seen a very steady growth since my career began. And of course the rise of technology has fueled a lot of it, whether that’s improvement in cameras and smartphones, or the way social media and YouTube have helped us reach new audiences. It’s bigger and bigger every year and that’s very evident in the book. You can see how my storytelling changes over time, and how my image quality improves as I’m always searching to bring fans the best possible content so they can enjoy it as if they were there with me.

WHAT WAS THE PHOTO SELECTION PROCESS LIKE?

Super difficult. Especially when it came to digging into the earlier years. Part of it was my fault, of course, because I could have organized them differently. But also, I kept stopping to reflect on things I uncovered that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It’s important to look back and see how far we’ve come as a culture, so you can take a step back and refocus on the future. This book is like an archive for our generation of enthusiasts — you can refer back to and see the moments that shaped us. If you’re into cars, from all walks of life, it’s a book that should last a lifetime.

HOW DID DIFFERENT GEAR AFFECT YOUR WORK?

Gear played an incredibly crucial role. We always tried to use the best tool for the job, no matter what. That meant we gravitated toward the latest and greatest Canon cameras and lenses. It gave us an opportunity to push the boundaries of what was possible with car photography. We made a point to mention in the book when a new Canon body came out and was integrated into our equipment, and you’ll notice the change in image quality aligns perfectly.

Life At Shutter Speed is available to order now as a hardcover.