► Our art editor picks his favourite 2015 pictures
► It’s the best from CAR magazine’s photographers
► Which is your favourite shot?
Join our art editor on a guided tour around CAR magazine’s best photography from 2015, as he rakes over the year’s most memorable images. Matt Tarrant picks his favourite pictures of the year – from the high-octane drama of our sideways Ferrari shooters to the wry observation of CAR’s portrait photographers. Be sure to tell us which shots you like most in our comments below.
And if you like what you see, why not consider subscribing to CAR magazine? That way you’ll never miss an issue and qualify for our best rates. You’ll also get full access to our new CAR+ service, letting you read each issue online on any device, plus the best bits from our archive.
1) We go camping in the Land Rover Discovery Sport (January 2015)
‘We get to work with some amazing photography throughout the year in some wildly different locations: one minute we’re sliding cars on an Alpine pass, the next we’re in a perfectly lit studio. But sometimes, the impromptu photos are just as good. Here’s Mark Walton struggling to put his tent up – when we sent him to go camping on a glacier in Iceland. It was all part of a hair-brained idea to test the new Land Rover Discovery Sport. Perfectly captured by our photographer Charlie Magee.’
2) Europe vs USA epic road trip (February 2015)
‘This shot by Greg Pajo brilliantly captures the essence of our February 2015 cover feature: four very different cars, two from Europe, two from the States, blasting around the US on a week-long road trip. The epic backdrop is a suitable canvas for the wildly different characters of our Charger, Huracan, Mustang and i8 quartet.’
3) 4x4xNorfolk (March 2015)
‘It takes some skill to photograph cars off-road – especially when you’re effectively in a dyke at the side of a road. Luckily, Richard Pardon has bags of talent. Here the light is great on our SUV group test in Norfolk.’
4) Mark Walton vs the leftfield at the Geneva motor show (April 2015)
‘It’s Mark Walton again. Under a giant, tuned-up Mercedes at the 2015 Geneva motor show. Photographed by Dan Burn-Forti with his customary eye for quirky detail others miss.’
5) A CAR exclusive as we drive the Bentley sports car concept (May 2015)
‘For our redesigned May 2015 issue, Tom Salt shot the Bentley concept for us. I thought this was a beautiful angle on a stunning car, from our exclusive drive by European ed Georg Kacher.’
6) Ferrari vs Porsche in Wales (June 2015)
‘Two great convertibles, driving through South Wales on our twin test. I really like the angles of the cars, the road snaking off tantalisingly in front, and the beautiful sunlit scenery in the background. Top work from CAR regular Mark Bramley. He makes you want to be there.’
7) Ferrari 488 GTB, sideways (July 2015)
‘Ben Barry is very good at sliding cars; Greg Pajo is perfect for photographing Ben at work. This is from our first drive in Italy, when we slipped behind the wheel of the new 488 GTB for the first time, to ascertain if they’d blown it with the move to turbos.’
8) We go flying in the Ariel Nomad (August 2015)
‘I asked Richard Pardon to make the Ariel Nomad look as insane as possible. So he bravely put his camera under a jump and let Chris Chilton go to work. The outcome was this fantastic shot for the opener of our feature. Chocks away!’
9) The fastest British car naked: the McLaren P1 GTR (September 2015)
‘We put together our 25 British cars to drive before you die in our September 2015 issue. There were some great images, but this static shot by Charlie Magee of the McLaren P1 GTR sans clothes stood out. A stunning peek at the engineering within… ‘
10) Inside the Bentley Bentayga factory (October 2015)
‘Gavin Green and photographer Greg White went to Bentley to see the factory and its brave new Bentayga SUV, and came back with this great image of Gavin inspecting the line up of W12s ready for the new posh-roader. I really like the order and perspective that come over in the image.’
11) Hope lives eternal: the new Alfa Romeo Giulia (November 2015)
‘We were granted an exclusive look around the new Alfa Romeo Guilia, so we sent Richard Pardon to see how great the car really looks. This rear angle of the car is stunning and lit very well. It really shows of the Guilia’s sporty stance. Click here to read the full story in CAR+.‘
12) The wonderful, wacky world of the new Ford GT (December 2015)
‘Photographer Steffen Jahn had a day in a studio to shoot the new Ford GT for CAR magazine. This great angle and lighting shows the mind-boggling lines of the new car off so well. Click here to see the whole shoot in our new CAR+ service.‘
Click here to see the cars we drove in 2015 by numbers.
The CAR Top 10: the things we never thought we’d see in 2015.