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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Daniel Malikyar, courtesy of the Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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© Santo Gallery
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Capturing the fine art of urban racing
Legendary Porsche collector Magnus Walker, renowned for his one-of-a-kind stash of Zuffenhausen motors, has teamed up with award-winning photographer and filmmaker Daniel Malikyar, to create a series of photographs dedicated to urban racing.
This collaboration was for Santo Gallery, co-founded by Malikyar, and you can see it in full here.
Featuring a dazzling array of Porsches, the images capture everything from racing through the LA River in an homage to Grease to tearing through the California desert. We had to find out more…
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Turbo Fever
This evocative photograph certainly sets the tone.
Taken on a foggy morning just outside downtown Los Angeles by Malikyar, Turbo Fever captures a trio of Porsche 930 turbos ripping around a bend, with palm trees disappearing into the misty distance.
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Turbo Fever – behind the scenes
So how did the team make it happen?
Well, when Malikyar and Walker realised the gates to their preferred shoot location were closed, they had to improvise for Turbo Fever’s creation.
If features three Porsche 930 turbos, two from 1975 and one from ’76.
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Lone Wolf
This shot was inspired by Walker’s commitment to individuality.
Lone Wolf features Willow, his German Shepherd mix, jumping out of his red 1974 911 slant-nose conversion.
Captured during golden hour by Malikyar, it was taken on one of the world’s most picturesque roads, the Angeles Crest Highway.
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Greased Lightning
Now this one will get your toes tapping!
Inspired by the classic racing scene in the 1978 hit film Grease, here Malikyar captures Walker and his girlfriend Hannah Elliott racing his famous ‘277’ (1971 Porsche 911 T) and ‘67S’ (’67 Porsche 911) on the banks of the LA River.
The ‘277’ scaled a 40-degree slope on the concrete bank.
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Greased Lightning – behind the scenes
This Greased Lightning recreation was shot along the banks of the LA River at the picture-perfect golden hour, Malikyar shooting from the camera as it, plus the ’71 and ’67 Porsche 911s travel at speed.
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Greased Lightning – behind the scenes (cont.)
Of course, something like this doesn’t come about by chance, a lot of planning and scene-setting are involved to ensure that everything is just right to deliver the perfect photograph.
Here, Walker and Malikyar discuss the framing of their next shot on the bank of the LA River.
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Greased Lightning – behind the scenes (cont.)
From this angle, it is clear how steep the ascent is.
Nonetheless, Walker eases his 1967 Porsche up the 40-degree concrete banking to get in position for the Greased Lightning shot.
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LA River
This image from the Magnus Walker collection at Santo Gallery was years in the making.
Taken by Malikyar, Walker’s Porsches are caught racing through the middle of the LA River, host to some of Hollywood’s most iconic scenes – the finished image is also called LA River.
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LA River – behind the scenes
We suspect photographer Malikyar might have got a little wet shooting this one!
Here the team is driving at speed through the LA River at sunset, seconds before the perfect image was taken.
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LA River – behind the scenes (cont.)
Practice makes perfect.
Here Malikyar frames the shot for LA River, during the first rehearsal run featuring Walker and Elliott.
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LA River – behind the scenes (cont.)
Malikyar and Walker discuss the frame for their next shot, as the sunlight quickly began to fade.
They only had around an hour of good light to capture both the Greased Lightning and LA River images before it was gone.
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Zebra Crossing
Something a little different, this was shot within Walker’s ‘urban racetrack loop’ in downtown LA.
Here Malikyar captures Walker’s Porsche 911 (993) Art Car on the zebra crossing between the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Broad Museum.
Walker designed the car using sticky tape, approaching it from all angles until he achieved his desired one-of-a-kind look.
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Desert Outlaw
Called Desert Outlaw, this photograph features Walker’s 1978 Porsche 911 SCHR, a former competition car, in an unfamiliar environment: a dry lake-bed in Johnson Valley, California.
When the team’s original plans to shoot at El Mirage were thwarted by a storm, it was off to Rabbit Lake, where Malikyar captured this scene just minutes before the sun dipped behind the surrounding mountains.
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Desert Outlaw – behind the scenes
It’s dusty work!
Here Walker is drifting at speed round photographer Malikyar as he tracks him in his ’78 Porsche SCHR 911 for the creation of Desert Outlaw.
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Desert Outlaw – behind the scenes (cont.)
Malikyar and Walker reviewing shots during the Desert Outlaw shoot.
After a single pass, they opted for a rolling car-to-car photo.
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Desert Outlaw – behind the scenes (cont.)
Malikyar shoots out of the back of the camera van as Walker trails them at speed, drifting in and out of frame during another evocative golden hour, as the team worked on the Desert Outlaw concept.
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Desert Outlaw – behind the scenes (cont.)
We finish with this drone’s-eye view of Malikyar hanging out the back of the camera van snapping Walker in his Porsche, whilst working on the Desert Outlaw concept.
Check out the images on the Santo Gallery website here.