Photographer Captures Alfa Romeo Image Collection With Cameras From The 1950s To Modern Day

A Hasselblad 500C/M was used to capture the above images in Holland-Park

Photographer Phil Knott, who is famous for his monotone celebrity portraits, has recently used his photographic skills to capture black and white images of objects with four wheels rather than well-known people. 

The image collection, which features the new Alfa MiTo and Giulietta Collezione models, was captured in seven iconic locations across London using cameras from each decade since 1950 to present day. Knott used iconic cameras such as the Leica M3 (introduced in 1954), the Hasselblad 500C/M and the Nikon F to capture his images which were then developed and hand-printed by Robin Bell, one of Britain’s most respected black and white printers, to appear in an exhibition alongside the MiTo and Guilietta Collezione models. 

Shooting in Richmond using a 1950s Leica M3(above images), Knott begin his shoot, commissioned by Alfa Romeo, capturing the area's cinematic post-war brickwork in the background with the iconically shaped cars in the foreground. For the 1960s, he used a Hasselblad 500C/M in Holland Park to create simple, warm and toned prints and for the following decade, he worked with a Nikon F in the tall, concrete surroundings of Barbican to produce images inspired by The Beatles Abbey Road album cover shot by Iain Macmillan (below images).  

The inspiration for the 1980s-style photography was David Sylvian’s Album, Life in Tokyo and an Olympus OM4 was the camera of choice for this particular shoot. Knotts then used a 1990s Minolta Dynax 9xi to frame the new Collezione models with Canary Wharf setting the scene (below image), whilst The London Eye provided the perfect backdrop for the shots with a 2000s Canon EOS 5D (last image shown). For the images with a modern day twist, Knotts chose to use an 8-megapixel iSight camera on an Apple iPhone 6S as after all, more of us are becoming iPhoneographers these days. 

The Alfa Romeo Black & White Collezione exhibition will be on display at the Underdog Gallery in London from 11 to 13 December 2015.