BILL PHELPS PHOTO ESSAY W+W

Photographer extraordinaire, the enigmatic and moody work of Brooklyn's Bill Phelps has been featured previously on The Vintagent.  He brought those images, and quite a few newer ones of women in the sea, to Galerie Treize Avril in Biarritz, as a featured artist for this year's Wheels+Waves.  Bill was a quiet presence during the event, stalking photos and taking portraits, keeping all of us mesmerized as he shared his latest images...even in the tiny in-camera view screen, we could tell he was producing a stunning body of work, and all of us with cameras (that seemed to include most participants at times) were inspired to do better work ourselves!  Without further ado, The Vintagent is very proud to present Bill's photo essay, just a sampling of the many hundreds of amazing compositions he carried away from the sea, the mountains, and the motorcyclists.

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WHEELS AND WAVES: THE RECEPTION

The Southsiders MC have included an art gallery in the Wheels & Waves concept, to celebrate the many visual artists who enrich our motorcycling world - photographers, sculptors, bike builders, musicians, etc.  Thursday night's kickoff party took place at Gallerie 13 Avril in Biarritz, a former paint factory, the old warehouse space underneath a residence built in a charming 19th Century southern France style, complete with an elderly tenant upstairs, who, while fascinated with the commotion on his small, normally quiet street, ultimately latched his wooden storm shutters to get some peace from the happy celebrants below.

This year's roster of artists included photographer Bill Phelps (featured previously on The Vintagent), painter/musician/preacher Brian Bent, Spanish photographer Alberto Garcia Alix, and photographer Alain Duplantier. El Solitario showed their latest Ducati-based custom, looking like nothing you've ever seen, and surely their best work to date. 

Surprise guests of the evening included the prototype BMW R90S built by Roland Sands (and recently debuted at Villa d'Este), accompanied by Roland himself, and Ola Stenegard, head of BMW motorcycle design.  Also on show, thanks to the foresight of Sebastien Lorentz, was the equally spectacular BMW R7 (also much discussed on The Vintagent).  More on the BMW show-up later...

The art was all top notch, the venue quirky enough to satisfy  everyone, and the hugely international crowd was thrilled to meet up.  BikeExif's Chris Hunter arrived from New Zealand, plus Jordan Kightley from the Gentleman Racer rides and  Sydney Cafe Racers, plus lots of Americans/Brits/Dutch/German etc riders.  Next: Friday's ride and illegal sprint race!

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