LIFE AT SHUTTER SPEED

A candy-colored assemblage of racing photos, taken over the course of a 20-year career.

Chen’s full-color photographs, showcasing the ins and outs of the automotive sports world, span more than 400 pages. Clocking in at over 2,500 individual photos, the book unfolds in reverse chronological order. It comprises four sections, beginning with Chen’s most recent collections—“A People’s Movement” (2020-2024) and “Lens on Fire” (2015-2019)—and working backward to conclude with his first five years in the business—“Laying Groundwork” (2005-2009). Some photographs are full page; many are smaller in size and grouped together in a collage depicting a particular car show or race. Included throughout are brief paragraphs that describe the events behind the photos, Chen’s methods, or suggestions for budding sports photographers (“My number one piece of advice for auto enthusiasts is to get off your comfy sofa and go out and find some cool cars in the wild”). The photos reveal a breathtaking talent for capturing movement, like flames bursting from a car’s hood at the Retro Havoc in Malaysia or a midcrash close-up on a racetrack. With vivid colors, crisp lines, and no shortage of Porsches, he captures the excitement of racing in all its forms and in all parts of the world (labeling the types of cars featured would have been helpful). The Pandem R33 GT-R against the neon lights of Tokyo gives way to the grit-crusted trophy trucks flying through the sand dunes of Baja, California—all while Chen’s eye for light and color combinations delight the reader. The prose that occasionally accompanies the pictures is conversational/unpolished (“This was a show that was on my radar for a while. Until recently it had quite the interesting name: it was called ‘Raceism.’ Although I completely understand that it was an unnecessary name, I still thought it was hilarious”) leaving the main focus (rightly) on the photographs. Part career retrospective, part coffee-table book, the collection is ultimately a remarkable celebration of car culture and sports photography.

Photographs that expertly depict the speed, adrenaline, and coolness of fast cars around the globe.