Chevrolet Bel Air – Photo: © Dingo
Some photographs feel self-evident. They grab you at first glance, because they look like a whole film frozen into a single frame. That is exactly what “Chevrolet Bel Air” does, one of the most striking images by DINGO, an iconic photographer in the world of cars and motorcycles, known for his offbeat touch, his visual humor, and his ability to tell a story in one frame.
In this interview published on the Une image pour rêver gallery’s YouTube channel, DINGO explains how the image was born, and above all how he created it in record time, with raw creative energy, mixing freedom, logistics, intuition, and controlled improvisation.
Who is DINGO, and why his photos are instantly recognizable
DINGO is not only an automotive photographer. He is a visual storyteller, whose world is shaped by his dreams, the scenes he witnesses, and his ability to decode social change and translate it into images. A major figure in car and motorcycle photography for over 40 years, he has made his mark on the press and advertising with a style like no other: 45 car brands, 6 car magazine launches, 940 covers, over 500 car and motorcycle models brought into the spotlight, and more than 8,000,000 shutter releases over an extraordinary career.
His art is a rare blend of photography, staging, and narration. He twists the codes of cars, advertising, and everyday life to create images that make you smile, think, and stay with you. His staged scenes are often upbeat and humorous. In his work, the automobile becomes a symbol, a set, sometimes even a character, because what interests him is not only the car itself, but the way it fits into our lives, the adventures it enables, and the emotions it sparks. DINGO sums it up with a line that is as funny as it is true: the car is with us “from the maternity ward to the cemetery”.
That is exactly what the Une image pour rêver gallery stands for: fine art photographs with a strong signature, made to live on a wall as a work of art, not as a simple picture.
A walk in Bercy, and the discovery of a demolition site in full destruction
The story begins in Paris, in Bercy, on what is now Cour Saint-Émilion. At the time, DINGO is walking there by chance and discovers a brutal scene: a neighborhood under construction, buildings being torn down, open facades, demolition machines, rubble. An end-of-the-world set, but also a piece of heritage disappearing.
DINGO puts it simply: he felt that “something was going away”. Instead of photographing the site as a straightforward report, he decides to turn it into a work of art, an invented image, a memory transformed by imagination.
The bold move that changes everything: asking the site manager for two days to “invent a photo”
What stands out in his story is the audacity. DINGO goes straight to the site manager. He introduces himself, shows his portfolio, and asks for an unlikely favor: to be given two days to create a photograph on location, in an area already destroyed, before everything is cleared out.
Today, that kind of authorization would be almost impossible. But back then, they say yes. And that is where the story turns: DINGO has one absolute constraint, 48 hours. He has to invent, organize, build, and shoot.
A 1950s Chevrolet Bel Air, a reconstructed living room, and a whole film in one image
In two days, DINGO gathers what matters: a 1950s Chevrolet Bel Air, or rather a piece of the car, massive, heavy, difficult to move. He calls people he trusts, the right faces, strong presences. He brings simple but decisive props: a television, living room elements, domestic details. And in the middle of the ruins, he rebuilds a “home” outdoors.
The scene is absurd, almost funny, and at the same time deeply moving. As if life continued despite destruction. As if intimacy resisted chaos. That tension between humor and gravity is what makes “Chevrolet Bel Air” so powerful.
The key symbolism, according to DINGO: the car as a “home”, and as freedom
In the interview, DINGO also shares what gives the image its deeper meaning: for him, the automobile has always been an extension of the home. You bring music, warmth, protection. You watch the world go by, but you stay inside a cocoon. A mobile home, an intimate kind of freedom.
In “Chevrolet Bel Air”, that symbol resonates with the setting: destroyed houses, a cut-up car, and yet an interior is recreated. You rebuild elsewhere. You inhabit, no matter what. DINGO says this photograph is one of the great ones in his career, because it concentrates the creative focus and the improvisation he loves so much.
Watch the interview, and discover the fine art print on the Une image pour rêver gallery
This interview is a fascinating dive into the making of a fine art photograph, and into the way an artist transforms a real place into a visual story. If you love automotive photography, staging, and works that tell a story, this video will give you another way to look at “Chevrolet Bel Air”.
You can watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl11RIgbg3Q
Represented by the Une Image pour Rêver gallery, DINGO offers limited edition prints of 12 copies, produced on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper and delivered with a certificate of authenticity. Each photograph is printed to order, with no stock, as part of a responsible and sustainable approach.
Discover and acquire the artwork
This photograph, “Chevrolet Bel Air”, an iconic staged scene created in Bercy (Paris), is available on the Une Image pour Rêver online gallery. It can be custom framed, in a floating frame or under museum glass, to enhance its colors and light, and to give this cult image a lasting place in your interior.
Treat yourself to a unique visual emotion.
