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Matinee: 'The Boy Who Loves Cars'
14 August 2021
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 409th in our series of Saturday matinees today: The Boy Who Loves Cars.
This 6:26 video tells the story of Anthony Schmidt, who became a miniature car photographer at 12 years old. A few months ago, Eric Johnson of KOMO News in Seattle profiled Schmidt as part of his televised Eric's Heroes series.
Johnson visits Schmidt at home but also takes him to Nardoland, the personal wonderland of Ron Nardone. The two collectors hit it off. Neither can pick a favorite collectible.
But we discovered Schmidt this week from a shorter video, which provides another angle on his love for cars:
"I love to collect and photograph model cars," Schmidt says. And that's putting it mildly.
He collects hundreds of them. And he doesn't just collect them. He repairs them. And customizes them, adding LED lighting to some of them.
And he doesn't simply photograph them with his smartphone. He builds sets for them.
His mother Ramona shared a few of his photographs on social media and the response was, in a word, gratifying. "I think people relate to the idea of overcoming adveristy and turning it into something you can be proud of," she says.
Indeed, as a plaque on his wall says, "Leftover parts are proof you made it better."
Today Schmidt, who lives in Woodinville, Wash., has a Web site with a gallery and store to go along with his social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook. And he's working on a Patreon angle, too.
Pretty ambitious. But with all those cars, a guy can go far.