TOYOTA VS INFINITI

About three years ago, I was shooting the entire range of Infiniti cars for their representatives.

The shooting lasted for a good half a year. It was a revelation for me to learn that there are all sorts of "Americans" and "Arabs". Some have GPS in the steering wheel, while others don't have it at all. And so on.

That's why we were waiting for a certain model, certain body and interior colors to arrive from America. I still don't understand why this was necessary, because Infiniti has enough of its own photos without me. But, one way or another, the customer immediately took all the raw footage. Where it went remains a mystery to me. I made my unobtrusive posts and added them to my portfolio. This shot is one of them.

Then, I also threw it on Shater. I think that advertisers serving Toyota caught this photo there. It's funny, only that they stupidly copied my idea. I myself sometimes rip off others. But they are a BRAND, after all, a cloud of workers, money, marketing departments, designers, meetings, approvals... and suddenly, my idea with my own models.

Sometimes I smile when I remember that my photographs were used by Infiniti in Turkey — and shortly after Toyota rolled out a campaign that looked suspiciously familiar. Apparently, ideas travel faster than cars.

Now I live and work as a photographer on Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam. And the irony remains the same: whether it’s luxury cars or couples on the beach, images have the power to cross borders, find new lives, and even end up on giant billboards.

Now I can see how the feeling of self-importance is sticking out of me. I never positioned myself as a designer and then, suddenly, such recognition.

Thanks TOYOTA! :)