Andres Gallardo - Life On 2 Wheels

Hualien, Taiwan. 2019

The origin of this series goes back to 2019, when I visited Taiwan for first time. I spent 2 months in the island for some client work and some personal projects, and one of the first things that called my attention was the insane amount of scooters. It's not just the first option for commuting. The number of scooters in Taiwan doubles the number of cars. Legend says that in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, there are more scooters than people actually.

With so many scooters, the number of repair shops and garages around Taiwan shouldn't be surprising. But it still is. During this first stay in Taiwan I clicked a few photos at some of these garages and I felt this could be the beginning of a very interesting series. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to follow that lead.

These scooters and garages were popping in my mind every now and then since 2019. And now, 5 years later, I finally made it back to Taiwan to work on this series. I focused my stay in Taipei since it's the paradigm of Taiwan's scooter culture. Scooters in Taipei are more than just a mode of transport; they are an integral part of the city's culture, offering a fascinating perspective on how a metropolis with over 2.6 million residents manages its traffic and urban mobility.

The series opens with one of the photos I took in 2019, in Hualien. This is the photo that has kept this series alive in my head for 5 years until I finally made it happen.

Following the initial photo we find few photos from Taipei's busy traffic during rush hours. One doesn't need to make much effort to feel the vibe, but doing a little research you find out certain spots where the scooter traffic gets really busy. No wonder one of these locations is commonly known as 'scooter waterfall'.

The next phase of the series was the most challenging part for me. Not only it involved asking for permission to shoot inside the garages. It also meant me explaining my concept and convincing some of the garage owners to participate in the series. Now try that without a common language other than sign language and kindness. But the challenge didn't end up there. As architecture photographer, I'm not used to take this kind of portraits. Communicating your concept and making the model comfortable is an important skill. One that I lack due to my 12 years of photographing architecture almost exclusively. Besides that, my usual practice consists of providing very clean shots and perfectly balanced compositions. For this series I had to let go of this perfectionism and forget everything I have been doing for the last decade. There's nothing clean about messy and oily garages. I had zero control on the shooting conditions. Composition was not relevant.

While visiting all these garages I could sense some level of discomfort in the garage owners or workers with the idea of being photographed. I had to make my best to create an enjoyable atmosphere for it to work. Little they did know that I was feeling as out of my comfort zone as they did, given that this is not what I usually do.

As the series was shaping up, a thought crossed my mind. Where did all the old scooters that couldn't be repaired end up? There had to be some sort of scooter graveyards somewhere outside the city. After some research I found one in the outskirts of Taipei and I have to say it was really impressive. While wondering around this colorful silent pile of dead scooters, one could only think about the better days they had cruising Taipei's streets day and night.

As a closing to the project I included a video shot at the 'Scooter Waterfall', where you can see the traffic on the busiest crossing during the morning rush hour. 2' 47'' of scooters flowing into the city constantly. One after another.