Q&A with We Deserve This Author Victoria Scott

In We Deserve This, the latest release from Carrara Media, automotive journalist and photographer Victoria Scott explores the concepts of femininity and queerness in car culture with vivid, striking imagery. The key to it all is her adept feel for photography and working with models — both cars and people. In the Q&A below, Scott explains the origins and depth of her relationship with the camera.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE BIG INFLUENCES THAT FIRST MADE YOU PICK UP A CAMERA?

Victoria Scott: I was inspired first by the beauty of the world around me — my earliest photographs were of interesting cloud patterns as I documented meteorological phenomena. Eventually, I bored of meteorology but continued taking photographs of anything that interested me. Later on, my interest was further nurtured by my late grandfather, who ran a photo studio in his younger years and taught me the basics of portrait lighting; add in the influence of mid-2010s Speedhunters (and Larry Chen) and you can see why automotive and fashion photography appeal to me so much.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE LOCATION TO SHOOT?

Every shoot was fun, but I think Viana's shoot with her Ducati was the most unique. We basically rolled the bike onto the campus of some university in WeHo that looked cool and the space was small, and the lighting was overcast-diffuse yet highly directional because of the giant looming buildings — challenging to work with but incredibly rewarding. Everything was color-blocked interestingly, and that environment with the small bike allowed freedom for both super-wide and super-tight shots. Getting to use the massive green LED-lit wall for a Matrix homage was so exciting, too. It felt like taking photos in a video game, where everything is meant to look wild and be interacted with; I had to do very little work to make the environment look fantastic.

WHAT IS A TREND YOU’D LIKE TO SEE MORE OF IN AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY?

I would like to see more automotive photography that emphasizes the link between car and owner, or car and locale. A lot of automotive photography is magazine-influenced: tight crops, no people, no room for the car to breathe, staged with an unobtrusive backdrop. Magazines (and blogs) shoot like this because they have to write about the car; it's a product review and they're doing product photography. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but if you're shooting for fun, include the rest of the world. Show the truck in the shadow of a mountain, take a photo of yourself or your loved ones using the car, interacting with it. It feels so much more like a frame from a scene then, and less like an advertising still.

IS THERE A TRICK TO MAKING A MODEL AND CAR INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER?

The car is easy: the car is an object. It does whatever I want it to. It has doors and surfaces to interact with, don't overthink that part of the equation. You should be deeply thinking about the model, however. She is a person who wants her photos to be taken well and to be treated with respect, and that requires trust and communication. (I know this sounds obvious to most people, but I have heard enough horror stories that I don't think it's obvious to everyone.) The only way I have found to take good portraits is to genuinely respect your model as an autonomous person who has entrusted you to respect her image; the posing will flow once you've earned that trust.

WHICH CAR WAS THE MOST FUN TO RIDE OR DRIVE?

I got to drive about two-thirds of the cars in this project, which means that the Acura NSX is 100% my first choice, because my "commute" in that thing was 150 miles of canyons toward Los Angeles from Ojai. I wrote a lot about why I, specifically, love the NSX's styling and ethos so much. But honestly, who wouldn't enjoy a 600-horsepower hybrid as a loaner in L.A.?

We Deserve This is available to order now as a hardcover.