We are pleased to announce that David Westphal has been included in the 2016/17 issue of Archive 200 Best. The image chosen holds a special place in David’s heart, so we caught up with him to ask about the experience shooting in New Zealand for Subaru Global.
“This particular image has a history. The location is this amazing mountaintop in the South Island of New Zealand. We needed to create an image meant to convey the idea that the Outback could track over a wide variety of terrain including inclines. This location was perfect as it had what could be a track that traveled along an accessible side of the hill with an expansive valley below. The first day on location, it snowed. Not wanting to waste a day and location, we shot this as a snow shot. It was a novel shot, but the valley was socked in by clouds and falling snow so we had minimal visibility and the breadth of the landscape was missing. We had an opening in our schedule two days later and returned to see what we could capture. It was raining as we drove up and set up our cameras. Just as the sun was breaking the horizon, the clouds started to break too. It was truly an epic moment of photography as I captured the scene jumping up and down in joy. The AD told me that this shot was going to win awards. I brushed the comment off just happy to get the shot as it was intended. When I found out this shot would be included in the Archive 200 best, the AD reminded me of what he had told me on set. I'm glad he was right and I am feeling fortunate to have the ability to express myself through the photographic image. These are the moments and images that we live for."