I try to make the viewer feel in the place that I am photographing

For starters, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Cyril, I am 24, I live in Russia. I will say right away: I don’t have a real car. Why? I don’t need it yet. If this nuance didn’t interrupt interest in reading my article further, then we will continue. My hobby is specific, but has its fans. To begin with, I always liked to be creative: to draw, to make something. 11 years ago, my father gave me a collectible model, and this began my new passion. For 9 years I collected exclusively Soviet and Russian equipment: cars, trucks, tractors. But in 2018, I decided to make an experiment and fulfill a long-held dream and bought two Saab models from the Saab Car Museum Collection by Editions Atlas series: Saab 96 and Ursaab (92001). And this moment can be called a new round of passion. 

Why Saab? Firstly, because this car has been in our family for almost 10 years. It was a Saab 9-3 sedan of the second generation. I was very upset when I found out that this brand no longer exists. It was also sad when our Saab wasn’t in the family. Secondly, I find the history of the Saab automobile company very interesting and legendary. Even the famous automotive skeptic Jeremy Clarkson spoke with sadness about the death of Saab. But in my 1/43 scale world they continue to live! Since 2018, I have been collecting only Saab models. In my collection there are models that came to me from different sides of the Earth. From Denmark to Australia. Also in my collection there is the oldest instance: Saab 93, 1958, produced by the Danish company Tekno. There are more recent representatives, such as models from the Saab Car Museum Collection series. Recently, my collection was replenished with a very rare model – a Saab 9-5 NG sedan. At the moment I have 74 models and this isn’t the end (the wife is crying).

Even before the fascination with Saab models, I liked to photograph models on the street or in nature. With the Saabs, I went even further, I began to take them “walk” more often, and six months ago I began to make dioramas-scenery for photos. I like to take pictures of models and do it so that they look as realistic as possible. Sometimes people make mistakes and think the model in the photo for a real car. I created my Instagram account in December last year, where I started uploading photos of my models. Before that, I posted short clips for my friends on my main page. But I decided to try to reach a large audience, fans of the brand and diecast photography lovers. I didn’t think that anything would come of it, but they began to subscribe to my account and the number of subscribers continued to grow gradually. 

In my photos I try to make the viewer feel in the place that I am photographing. I try to diversify lighting and weather, colors and background. I try to make sure that the viewer doesn’t get bored and doesn’t have the feeling of deja vu. Especially for this, I periodically create new scenery or if it is possible to photograph the model in a new place. Sometimes for photos I use 1/43 figures. Some I buy ready-made, and some I color myself. I try not to touch the models themselves and leave them in their original form. After all, every defect, scratch or a thick layer of paint on the model is often a hallmark of the manufacturer. For me, any Saab model in a scale of 1/43 from toys to industrial and expensive models is expensive. In my photos I try to capture the beauty of the appearance of Saab, its unique style and uniqueness.

And despite the fact that the Saab brand is officially no more, for me as a fan he is immortal.

More of Cyril’s great photos on his Instagram