COMBUST: An Anthropological Exploration into the Car Enthusiast and the Car in South Germany

An anthropological research into the human-to-car relationship, specifically considering those who acknowledge themselves as “car enthusiastic” beyond its functions of mobility, based in and around Stuttgart, Germany. The capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart is the birthplace of the internal combustion engine [ICE] automobile as we recognise it today. Revolutionary at its point in time, the ubiquity of the ICE automobile in modern society is now one of the world’s leading causes of pollution. As the EU pushes the industry to move away from the familiar, this research zooms into those whose object of passion is being forced to transform. Four months of multi-sited fieldwork, engaging predominantly with methods of photography during drive-along interviews and participant observation, gave rise to a discussion of the human-car relationship through the prevalent conceptual lenses of ‘value’ and ‘play’. A photobook, as the multimodal counterpart of this ethnographic project,...Show moreAn anthropological research into the human-to-car relationship, specifically considering those who acknowledge themselves as “car enthusiastic” beyond its functions of mobility, based in and around Stuttgart, Germany. The capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart is the birthplace of the internal combustion engine [ICE] automobile as we recognise it today. Revolutionary at its point in time, the ubiquity of the ICE automobile in modern society is now one of the world’s leading causes of pollution. As the EU pushes the industry to move away from the familiar, this research zooms into those whose object of passion is being forced to transform. Four months of multi-sited fieldwork, engaging predominantly with methods of photography during drive-along interviews and participant observation, gave rise to a discussion of the human-car relationship through the prevalent conceptual lenses of ‘value’ and ‘play’. A photobook, as the multimodal counterpart of this ethnographic project, elaborates on the diversity and ambiguity of the human-car experience. Drawing on an implicit argument that newer technologies do not immediately make older ones redundant, the book format invites the reader to reflect on their own relationship with the (ICE) automobile through a compilation of photos from the field placed in montage, alongside anecdotes and questions.Show less

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COMBUST: An Anthropological Exploration into the Car Enthusiast and the Car in South Germany