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Stuart Conway was commissioned by Shell International to shoot a series of reportage photos at their annual Eco-Marathon event. “Make the Future London” challenges youth amateurs and university teams alike to design an ultra-fuel efficient vehicle. In response to falling student engagement in the areas of Science and Engineering, the UK government has been heavily promoting this event in an attempt to rejuvinate interest in these crucial areas of study. The event, which takes place in several different cities across the world, has been synonymous with innovation and creativity. A world record was set in 2003 by “Microjoule,” a French engineering team that designed a vehicle that got 8,914 mpg. So, ha! Take that Elon Musk.
The competition is divided into two categories: The Prototype class and the UrbanConcept class. The former focuses on maximum efficiency, while passenger comfort is given a lower priority. The latter encourages more practical designs, cars that have internal combustion engines or electric motors or a combination of both. The vehicles are sleek and futuristic, more fitting for a Star Trek film rather than cruising the streets of London. However, they are simply a visual representation of years of hard work and collaboration, a machine that’s greater than the sum of its parts. To capture the whole spirit of the event and the cars, Shell needed Stuart to photograph the drivers, the engineers, the spectators and the course.
Stuart’s photos depict a wide range of emotion, from the jubilation of excited onlookers to the agony of defeat from disappointed competitors.
The client had many different stakeholders requiring images for different purposes globally.
The day-long shoot required him to wear many different hats. He stressed the importance of doing more than expected: taking more pictures and getting access to different team camps is sometimes the difference between a good picture and a great picture. Stuart was accompanied by other Shell photographers and a team of on-site editors to ensure the photographers were getting the right shots.
I make an effort to get extra images whenever I can, because that image might produce the best result of the day!
Shell was extremely pleased with Stuart’s images and plans to use them for its global ad campaigns. It’s no wonder Shell likes to keep him around!
To see more of Stuart’s work, visit stuartconway.com