The Best Jalopnik Photography Of 2017

Photo Credit: Kurt Klingensmith

It’s been nice to see so much more heart and humanity in the photography showing up on Jalopnik this past year. We’ve seen lots of supercars on dream roads before; it’s sweet now to see character and driven culture.

A Car Nerd’s Guide To Japan

Our freelancer Ken Saito has been doing amazing work going to all of the hidden gem shops and unexpected meets in Japan, with some excellent photos going along with them.

A favorite of mine was when he took a Miata out to the Hakone. (You’ll see lots of Miatas in this post. The trick to taking pretty photos is putting your camera in front of something pretty. Miatas take you to pretty places.)

I couldn’t do this collection without mentioning all of Ken’s parking lot meetup visits. He went and saw Lamborghini Day, Japan’s craziest parking lot and this wild Itasha gathering. The best photo of all of them, if you ask me, was this modified Lamborghini Diablo twinning with its door open next to an NYPD Crown Vic cop car.

But I still can’t get over his post coming to see an underground car show here in America, turning his eye back to the States.

More from Japan below.

Jalopnik in Hong Kong

Our intrepid Jeeper David Tracy has family in Hong Kong, and he spent his time well on one of his more recent visits, seeing how the unbelievable density of the city produces some of the most ultra vibrant car culture you’ll see on the street. David’s brother Michael shot a great photo essay of people wrenching curbside in Hong Kong.

And he also shot this unreal profile of the most knowledgeable man in off roading, who lives in one of the most urban corners of the world.

Michael also runs an Instagram of abandoned cars in Hong Kong, which you should follow.

Jalopnik Reviews

We drove a ton of extremely neat cars this year, which is, again, a good and simple trick for better photography. Want more interesting car pictures? Take pictures of more interesting cars.

I still love this set from Kristen—spring blossoms and a folding roof Miata RF work well to be evocative.

The same could be this set of a troublesome but genteel Jaguar XK140.

Andrew also drove the Fiat 124 Spider he grew up with, and the photos did the thing justice. Again, personality is key here more than anything else.

Freelancer Andrew Maness also got a great drive of an LS1-swapped Jaguar XJ Coupe. I want one of these cars so bad.

And probably my favorite shot review wasn’t really a review at all, but a set of interviews with a car club keeping completely unloved mid-’80s Nissan 200SXs alive in a NORAD bunker. Look through this whole set for the shots of kids hanging out of windows, totally caught up in the feeling of it all. Freelancer William Clavey up in Canada wrote this article, and Guillaume Fournier shot it.

Indeed, our Canadian pals like him and Myle, aka Appearance, had a lot of good shots this year. Blame the looser import laws.

Jalopnik’s Terrible, No-Good, Beloved Project Cars

David Tracy restored a farm Jeep from the 1940s and took it to Moab. Following through all of the ups and downs made this shot of it only more triumphant.

Honestly, seeing all the photos of this car destroying David’s life are some of Jalopnik’s most evocative, if not aesthetically refined.

Jalopnik Does TV

We also shot a TV show covering car culture across the country. Our main camera operator Alex Lau color-corrected some screenshots for us to use and they’re amazing.

I’d recommend looking through all the stuff he got from LA.

Jalopnik Lo-Fi

We also shot a lot more on film this year, which was fun. Internet car photography always seems to chase after the sharpest shots, even if it’s at the expense of feel. Mostly, car writers or photographers don’t have the time to shoot and process film, but we managed to sneak some in.

Our own Justin Westbrook shot a little set of a BMW M2 at the Classic Car Club Manhattan.

And I managed to run through a few rolls while shooting a couple car reviews. I’m a fan of getting the new Acura NSX in medium format.

And I liked going full hipster and shooting the, uh, somewhat finicky Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio on equally-finicky expired 35mm fuji negatives.

Motorsports

Texaslopnik was well represented this year, and friend of the site Kurt Bradley got a ton of sets of IMSA visiting the Circuit of the Americas, F1 visiting the Circuit of the Americas, vintage racing visiting the Circuit of the Americas and (my favorite of all of these) an Aston Martin Vulcan track day at the Circuit of the Americas.

You can almost hear them from here. Our man Kurt had a bunch of great shots in general. See more of them on his page here.

Jalopnik at Car Shows Worldwide

Kristen went to Goodwood twice this year and shot this incredible guide to the most British of car eventss for the most clueless of Americans.

We also shot a bunch of local Cars and Coffee meets, including this great set from Justin of a Lotus Esprit, a car not to be forgotten.

Friend of the site Kurt Klingensmith shot the Monterey Reunion, probably the most mind-bending racing event in America.

And, of course, we helped with Radwood 2, a celebration of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s cars that we always knew were among the greatest ever made, though they’re only now getting the recognition they deserve. This details set from Victor Jeffries is excellent, as is this overall review from Kristen Lee.

On to next year, and ever more human machines.