Christopher Herwig
autor
Trucks and Tuks
A colourful photography book on this visually stunning vernacular artform, the images painted onto these trucks and tuks are a phenomenon, giving a unique insight into the rich cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent.
White stallions and exotic birds frolic around a waterfall, glamorous Bollywood stars sing, a sunset-silhouetted couple bathe in the ocean - such are the images that adorn the trucks and tuks of the Indian subcontinent. These utilitarian vehicles provide a fertile canvas for the vernacular artists whose colour-saturated creativity covers every spare surface.
Over four years, photographer Christopher Herwig (author of the Soviet Bus Stops series and Soviet Metro Stations) travelled 10,000 kilometres in his quest to record this overlooked artform. He has documented the characteristics of each region - from Pakistan in the north, where intricately painted trucks often have a curved wooden peak at the front, symbolizing a princess' tiara; to Sri Lanka in the south, where tuk tuks might equally be painted with holy deities or the Joker from Batman.
The designs reflect a driver's identity, faith and aspirations and span a bewildering range of themes: ideals of masculinity might be intertwined with expressions of love and longing, while bold typography urges drivers to blow their horns or promotes a campaign for the education of girls.
Sadly, as a result of government directives, alongside the proliferation of cheap, mass-produced decorations, this vibrant cultural expression is in decline, making this project all the more vital.
Soviet Bus Stops
Soviet vernacular architecture across 18,000 miles in 14 countries
Photographer Christopher Herwig first noticed the unusual architecture of Soviet-era bus stops during a 2002 long-distance bike ride from London to St. Petersburg. Challenging himself to take one good photograph every hour, Herwig began to notice surprisingly designed bus stops on otherwise deserted stretches of road. Twelve years later, Herwig had covered more than 18,000 miles in 14 countries of the former Soviet Union, traveling by car, bike, bus and taxi to hunt down and document these bus stops.
The local bus stop proved to be fertile ground for local artistic experimentation in the Soviet period, and was built seemingly without design restrictions or budgetary concerns. The result is an astonishing variety of styles and types across the region, from the strictest Brutalism to exuberant whimsy.
Soviet Bus Stops is the most comprehensive and diverse collection of Soviet bus stop design ever assembled, including examples from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Estonia. Originally published in a quickly sold-out limited edition, Soviet Bus Stops, named one of the best photobooks of 2014 by Martin Parr, is now available in a highly anticipated, expanded smaller-format trade edition.
