On The Road: The Aera C-1 Cloud At Bonneville Speed Week

When did you start taking pictures?

I started at 16 when my uncle gave me a camera, and I took photography at A-level. I wasn’t a great student, but I loved being in the darkroom and attempting to make prints.

How would you describe your style of photography?

I don’t know if I’d describe myself as having a style, as such. But the shots I’ve taken that I like are usually quite minimal, with a clear subject and without many distractions. I’m a big fan of classic documentary photography and pictures that define a certain time or place.

What are you looking for in a good shot?

Often just simplicity or something “classic” looking. I like taking photos that are difficult to place in a time or era. Aside from that, just recognising good light and how it impacts a scene or subject.

What camera and lens do you like to use and why?

I only use a 35mm and a 50mm lens, and often carry both if I’m on a trip. These are the focal lengths that are most natural looking and that I enjoy shooting the most. I also find them the most versatile. I like the idea of shooting 28mm but find it slightly too wide – it’s difficult for a scene not to look too busy as a result. In terms of cameras, I have two digital Fujifilms, an X-Pro 2 and an X100F, the latter being a near-perfect travel camera. For film, I have a Leica M2 from 1959. It’s a beautiful mechanical object, very impractical and with no features or even a light meter. But like an old vintage watch or classic car, it makes me happy.

Where were these pictures taken?

These were taken at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA. It’s impossible to take a bad photo there. It’s an incredible place and looks like another planet with the vast white salt stretching out for miles. I was there for Speed Week, a brilliant event where people show up with their shed-built creations, trying to break top speed records. For a few days you live off sausages, cheeseburgers and petrol fumes. It’s perfect.

What were you trying to express?

The beauty of the landscape and how the C-1 looks as though it was made for it!

What do you think about the Aera C-1 Cloud?

I’m a big fan of Aera’s modern take on classic tool watches and the idea that each watch is designed as an heirloom piece. The C-1 Cloud might as well be called the “Bonneville”. Its all-white look perfectly matches the crisp white of the salt flats, while the blue accents mirror the pastel blue of the ever-present sky in this part of the world. The fact it’s a chronograph, with all the motoring heritage of the complication, made it the ideal watch for Speed Week.

charlie-thomas.co.uk; Instagram @charliethxmas