Lagerfeld shoots Audi R8 for owners-only calendar

Click image for photo gallery

The Audi R8 buildup continues apace. The flagship sports car has been featured at design expos, been featured in magazines (automotive and otherwise), and has established itself as an object of desire for many. Today, the automaker announced that famed designer Karl Lagerfeld photographed the mid-engined machine in France, and that the fashion designer will present his work May 12 at the Audi Forum in Manhattan. The photos, a sampling of which are in the enclosed gallery, are all done in black-and-white and show the R8 in a stylized, abstract form. Lagerfeld used mirrors (as you can see in the photo above) to create this unique imagery.

In addition to being displayed gallery-style at the Audi Forum, the work will also be featured in an exclusive calendar that will be made available only to new R8 owners. If you're not one of the 300 US customers who'll be laying claim to an R8 this year, but are desperate to see the fashionista's camerawork up close and personal, the shots will be exhibited at the Audi Forum for two weeks after their debut this coming weekend.

Audi's press release is also pasted after the jump.

[Source: Audi]

PRESS RELEASE:
Karl Lagerfeld photographs the Audi R8

* Photos for art calendar "Kaleidoscopic Vision of a Car"
* Exciting new perspectives of the sports car in black and white
* Photo exhibition on 12 May at the Audi Forum New York

For Walter de'Silva design, in abstract terms, is "a number of individual signals which add up to give a powerful overall signal. Design is always a reflection of outlooks on life, views and convictions." Head of Volkswagen Group Design de'Silva designed the Audi R8 to be the expression of "ultimate sportiness". And now Karl Lagerfeld has photographed the sports car, interpreting its design in an unusual new light. These photographs will appear in an art calendar entitled "Kaleidoscopic Vision of a Car".

Lagerfeld breaks down the overall design of the R8, developed by de'Silva from "individual signals", by working with reflections and making the images abstract – similar to the view through a kaleidoscope. The black and white photographs convey completely new, exciting perspectives.

"Seeing this emotion-stirring sports car through the eyes of a design icon such as Karl Lagerfeld is an impressive experience – and heightens the anticipation of all those who have already ordered it even further," commented Ralph Weyler, Board Member for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG.

The photographs were shot in the south of France, in Ramatuelle near Saint-Tropez. Sitting at the wheel of the R8 is the American Brad Kroenig, currently the most in-demand male model, whom the couturier has been photographing for five years for his long-term study "One Man Shown".

Karl Lagerfeld in person will be presenting the images in a photo exhibition at the Audi Forum New York on 12 May 2007. The exhibition will be continuing for two weeks. The exclusive art calendar will be available only to buyers of the Audi R8.