Taylor Holland 

Eurobus (New Wave) 

Eurobus (New Wave)

About the artist

They pass you by every day, yet you never notice them. Paris-based American photographer Taylor Holland stopped and took the time to shoot them: coaches full of tourists, often with very graphic, sometimes downright whimsical patterns on them, always brightly coloured. Holland captures them quietly, when they are at a stop, on his cycling tours of France’s capital city. What catches his eye as a photographer is lines and colours, which he shots close up: a visual choice that makes these airbrushed masterpieces tend towards unexpected abstraction.

Interview

What is your background?
After going to school to be a journalist, I embarked on a career in graphic design and art direction which lasted about 15 years, before I decided to explore photography and visual art, which I have been practicing for almost 6 years. But really my creative urge has everything to do with my upbringing in Oklahoma, a place where you have to be creative to entertain yourself. 

What attracted you to these buses and how did you choose them? 
The project actually began on a bicycle commute. I was riding through the Champ de Mars, and several hundred meters away, I saw a bus with an amazing rainbow graphic. In the days that followed, I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I started looking around the city for it, and in the process discovered more buses with even more incredible graphics. By the time I finally found the source of my inspiration, my interest in the subject had deepened to the point that I had started shooting on my way to (and from) work every day. Generally, I stop and shoot the ones that are the most interesting to me in terms of their design, color palate, or originality. I also never shoot the part of the buses which have typography mixed in with the graphic element.

Were you able to determine who are the authors?
Part of what attracts me to the project is the anonymity of the designers, and the fact that they are offered so much freedom. The question of who designed the graphics and why they made these particular design choices fascinates me. As evidenced in the project, these works are obviously free of rules and stylistic constraints. Graphic designers don't typically encounter that level of freedom, and I think it shows in the results.

Did you observe specific trends? 
Lots of stripes, airplanes, and rainbows. German buses have a lot of castles on them and Italian buses are very abstract and colorful. Beyond that, it's kind of a mixed bag. I'm always attracted to the ’80s-inspired, the colorful, or the odd – but you never know what you're going to find – which is what continues to draw me to this project. Every time I go out, at least half of the buses I see are new to me. And, after all this visual research, I would love to step in and design one myself.

Can you still wander a city without being obsessed by them? 
I'm now acutely aware of buses when I travel. Outside of the Eurobus project (where all the buses are shot in Paris), I have another collection of bus photographs from countries all over the world. Places like Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, and the Bahamas, as well as most of the other major European countries. Really, it's endless, and it's possible that this project will become my life's work.

Limited edition, numbered and signed. 

Selected shows and awards

Selected publications

Featured links

Details

& order

Taylor Holland 
Eurobus (New Wave)

2012

Technical information

Pigment print on Ilford Gallery Gold Fibre Silk - limited edition, numbered and signed certificate.

Dimensions

40 x 60 cm, Edition of 50 150.00 €
 
Add a frame (artist's choice - for another choice, please contact us)  

Shadowbox, white wooden frame, glassX





By the same artist

Taylor Holland


By the same curator

ART LIGUE, Spring 2013