Life At Shutter Speed: Two Decades of Larry Chen Photography

by Larry Chen

Overview

Life At Shutter Speed is the debut collection from Larry Chen, the preeminent automotive photographer of today’s generation. This 400-page keepsake celebrates 20 years of Chen’s work, featuring never-before-seen images and behind-the-scenes stories from his travels all over the world.

More than 2,500 stunning photos are included, spanning the worlds of motorsport, rally and hillclimb racing, smoke-filled drifting and underground car culture that are synonymous with the author.

Inspired by his tireless mission to celebrate auto enthusiasts across the globe, as depicted in his YouTube series AutoFocus with Hoonigan and Capturing Car Culture with Hagerty, Life At Shutter Speed packs two decades of breathtaking thrills into a collector’s item that will elevate the bookshelf of any car nut.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798991622677
Publisher:	Carrara Media
Publication date:	09/29/2025
Pages:	404
Product dimensions:	11.40(w) x 14.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Larry Chen is the world’s preeminent documenter of car culture, serving as the official photographer for both Formula Drift and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. His work has been exhibited in multiple museums, and he is the only automotive photographer to hold the title of Canon Explorer of Light. In 2022 he earned the SEMA Automotive Influencer of the Year award, and in 2025 became the first non-driver inducted into the Formula Drift Hall of Fame. Chen lives in Los Angeles with his wife and children. Life At Shutter Speed is his first book.

Editorial Reviews

"Gorgeous. Breathtaking. You feel 20 years of automotive history on every page." - Racer Magazine

"More museum gallery than coffee table book, Life At Shutter Speed is a treasure trove of Chen’s best work for any car enthusiast." - The Drive

"Chen doublestuffs 400 pages with gorgeous shots, intimate memories, and a buoyant sense of gratitude." - BookLife Reviews

"An engrossing photography book that celebrates international car culture over the last two decades." - Clarion Foreword Reviews.

“Larry has spent his life covering the greats. Along the way, he’s become one of the greats himself.” - Jeff Zwart

"Part career retrospective, part coffee-table book, the collection is ultimately a remarkable celebration of car culture and sports photography." - Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-08-08
A candy-colored assemblage of racing photos, taken over the course of a 20-year career.

Chen’s full-color photographs, showcasing the ins and outs of the automotive sports world, span more than 400 pages. Clocking in at over 2,500 individual photos, the book unfolds in reverse chronological order. It comprises four sections, beginning with Chen’s most recent collections—“A People’s Movement” (2020-2024) and “Lens on Fire” (2015-2019)—and working backward to conclude with his first five years in the business—“Laying Groundwork” (2005-2009). Some photographs are full page; many are smaller in size and grouped together in a collage depicting a particular car show or race. Included throughout are brief paragraphs that describe the events behind the photos, Chen’s methods, or suggestions for budding sports photographers (“My number one piece of advice for auto enthusiasts is to get off your comfy sofa and go out and find some cool cars in the wild”). The photos reveal a breathtaking talent for capturing movement, like flames bursting from a car’s hood at the Retro Havoc in Malaysia or a midcrash close-up on a racetrack. With vivid colors, crisp lines, and no shortage of Porsches, he captures the excitement of racing in all its forms and in all parts of the world (labeling the types of cars featured would have been helpful). The Pandem R33 GT-R against the neon lights of Tokyo gives way to the grit-crusted trophy trucks flying through the sand dunes of Baja, California—all while Chen’s eye for light and color combinations delight the reader. The prose that occasionally accompanies the pictures is conversational/unpolished (“This was a show that was on my radar for a while. Until recently it had quite the interesting name: it was called ‘Raceism.’ Although I completely understand that it was an unnecessary name, I still thought it was hilarious”) leaving the main focus (rightly) on the photographs. Part career retrospective, part coffee-table book, the collection is ultimately a remarkable celebration of car culture and sports photography.

Photographs that expertly depict the speed, adrenaline, and coolness of fast cars around the globe.

Kirkus Reviews