Please enter your email and website or LinkedIn to receive more information about our free and paid accounts.
Please enter your email address below and we’ll send you instructions on how to change your password.
In the realm of automotive photography, Paris-based Götz Göppert stands out for his penchant for daring adventures captured through his lens. His portfolio is a testament to his affinity for documenting people embracing life head-on, whether in far-off landscapes, death-defying sports, or high-risk environments. It’s this fearless spirit that makes him a natural fit for this double assignment with his return client AutoHeroes, the French automotive lifestyle magazine that celebrates cars not just as objects, but as art and a way of life.
Götz’s partnership with AutoHeroes is no flash in the pan, but a journey that has spanned over a decade.
I have been working with the Heroes group since its founding. I also shoot a lot for MotoHeroes, the predecessor of AutoHeroes, and have done so since their beginning about ten years ago. So it’s been a long relationship and the guys have become good friends.
The sense of storytelling in Götz’s work solidified his deep partnership with his client. While he can match this approach to many specialties across photography, cars have held a longstanding fascination. Yet not in the way the typical reader of AutoHeroes may think.
I am not a car guy, but I like the object. I like it being used, driven, and with people. It’s not really the car I am interested in, but the person in and around the car. And with the person comes clothing, the movement, and the location. I really love that.
Before delving into Automotive photography, Götz primarily made a name for himself in Beauty photography. However, a pivotal moment changed his trajectory when a friend introduced him to the races held on the speedway in the Salt Flats of Bonneville, Utah. Here, he discovered his affinity for the outdoors, travel, and action, ultimately shaping his captivating body of work. With its unique focus on blending Lifestyle and Automotive photography, AutoHeroes finds Götz Göppert to be quite the ideal blend. His ability to seamlessly capture the car, driver, and surrounding environment in a single frame creates captivating scenes that truly come to life.
These images could also be out of a movie. I like to work my images into telling a real story, where you really become part of the image and can imagine being there. Very natural and very close to the subject.
In his recent assignments for AutoHeroes, Götz has captured the essence of automotive passion in stunning detail. From rain-soaked streets in Paris to the historic tracks of Le Mans Classic, Götz’s lens has immortalized moments of beauty and excitement. One particularly thrilling assignment revolved around vintage Bugatti racing during the legendary Le Mans Classic. His primary subject was driver Alexandre Moreau Lespinard, who leads a double life as a French notary by day and a passionate driver of racecars and speedboats after hours.
Photographing the Bugatti during the Le Mans Classic with Alexandre was amazing. The event itself is fantastic. So many rare cars with everybody dressed up and in style.
During the exhilarating three-day event, Götz immersed himself in capturing the Bugatti story and countless other moments. With the Le Mans Classic being a 24-hour spectacle, the demands of the project were relentless, requiring him to be on his toes at all times. Yet, every ounce of effort was undeniably worth it.
There is night racing, the camp areas, the pitlane, and the different paddocks. And you meet a lot of people. Plus, when you are one of the official photographers you have access everywhere and everybody is happy to see you, to chat, and to get their picture taken. It’s a weekend not to be missed, and you come home with so many cool images.
Götz then shifted gears to the streets of Paris. Here, in his hometown, he captured his longtime friend and car aficionado Baptist Masse driving a Jaguar XK120 around the empty streets of a rainy Paris. Yet, even on a rainy day, how could the streets of a major city like Paris be empty? Götz illustrates the power of an early start.
The wakeup at 5 am is always a little hard, but once I am on the motorcycle with my driver, and the car I’m shooting following, Paris becomes a real playground. You only have to be fast and finish before rush hour starts. I love the rain as it gives you amazing reflections, but you work with the conditions you are getting.
Did Götz just say he shoots on a motorcycle with a driver? He did. He is as much a daredevil as his subjects, his driver focuses on the road while Götz focuses on his subject. Shooting from a motorcycle with a dedicated driver allows him the freedom to capture dynamic angles and perspectives, even amidst bustling city streets.
It’s always very cool when you work this time of day, but with the changing light, you have to work fast. On this shoot, it was only the 3 of us: myself, Baptist Masse, and my bike driver, Francois. So it was very simple as we all live in Paris and did it with no permit or anything. I call this guerrilla shooting. You have to adapt fast, you might get chased, you handle problems quickly, and everything is possible yet with no guarantees. Usually, you come home with surprising images. Everybody gives input on location, angles, and actions. Real teamwork.
Ironically, the police aren’t the main issue on a shoot like this. Usually, other cars or construction are the culprits for making a shot nearly impossible to get. But in the early weekend Paris morning, these distractions often have not yet woken up.
It is amazing to shoot on the open road. Usually, I try to have a motorcycle with a driver so I can stand up or turn around while he’s driving. The bike is fast, doesn’t take as much space as a car, and is very good to work from. The only thing is you cannot shoot from very low. For that, you need to shoot out of the open trunk of a car. Then you can shoot from very low when you hold your camera just over the asphalt while driving. But the police won’t like that when they see you and you might get fined! But on racetracks, I prefer to work like that.
You don’t get to do this kind of shoot every day. It’s lots of fun for everyone, and driving through Paris this early in the morning is an adventure unto itself!
Götz Göppert’s partnership with AutoHeroes is a testament to the power of creativity and collaboration in Automotive photography. With each assignment, Götz continues to push the boundaries of storytelling, leaving an indelible mark on the world of automotive photography.
See more of Götz’s work on his website.
Credits
Motorcycle Driver: Francois Salanon
Driver of Jaguar XK120: Baptiste Masse
Further Reading
Read more Photographer Spotlight articles about our other photographers.
Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Photography,
Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!