On Saturday, December 7th, I learned to appreciate the art within automobiles. The Burdi Functional Art Car Show was one of the first car shows I had ever experienced. Going into it, I had assumed the position of an amateur car lover. I knew some types of engines and almost all car brands. My understanding of cars was soon diminished when I entered the Hinsdale, Illinois meet.
Going to the show with a friend, a part-time photographer, made me interested in trying this new type of art. I have experience in graphic design and most varieties of physical art, but I had never really used a camera for my own desires, that is, excluding the cameras given to me in the DHS Film & TV classroom. The meet was filled with hundreds of cars I had never even heard of. This realization showed me how inexperienced I was in the car industry. I was a rookie. I questioned why I was there, surrounded by thousands of car lovers that had driven across state lines to attend the show. Just because I didn’t know about these types of cars, didn’t mean I couldn’t learn about them through the lens of my newly found camera.
The Sony a6000 was my paintbrush for the day. I wasn’t extremely experienced with a camera, definitely not as experienced as my friend who was using a complex Fujifilm camera. Although the Sony was a lower quality, I thought about using my graphic design and editing skills to touch up on the photos postmeet. Before I could do that, I had to take the shots. The pictures were from surrounding angles, far and near, of each individual car. Appreciating the beauty and art within these cars, meant examining each and every one.
The cars were unlike anything I had seen before. A mixture of 1960’s Porsches and retro Corvette Stingrays, all the way to modern Bugattis and McLarens. Not to mention, the multiple car brands I didn’t even know existed. The hundreds and millions of dollars in value of these cars was intimidating enough, let alone the owner of most of the cars. The Hamilton Collection is a company, located in Naperville, and owned by Steve Hamilton. The Collection holds countless cars that are praised upon by local car lovers and displayed at this particular meet. Individuals are even able to rent these unique and expensive cars. After talking to my friend about how infamous the Collection is, I knew I had to talk to Steve Hamilton. Although Hamilton owned a multi-million dollar car collection, he was a very kind person that was open to talking to anyone that wanted to meet him. I enjoyed speaking to him and learning more about his cars. Hamilton made it clear that cars were a hobby of his, that just turned into a business. He mentioned how cars are his source of happiness.
Searching for this happiness, I found this image stuck in my head. I know my happy hobby is watching and playing sports, but I pondered upon the hobbies of my friends and family. This show taught me multiple things: I learned my way around a Sony camera and got a feel for car photography, I learned an absurd amount about cars, and I learned the importance of a hobby. Whether it’s sports, cars, food, or anything else, people deserve to find their happiness through a hobby, just like Steve Hamilton finds his in cars and I find mine in sports.
