Photographer Frank Kayser is not someone who likes to market himself. “I always feel like a politician when I have to talk about myself,” says the 57-year-old. “I’d rather let my pictures do the talking than stage myself in front of the camera.” His work has taken him from the Rhön across all continents to aircraft carriers and even to missile bases in Baikonur. Kayser has staged car chases with super sports cars and combat helicopters as well as advertising campaigns for Porsche Motorsport, BMW and Audi Sport. He knows the most beautiful country roads in the world as well as the most legendary race tracks.
The Hesse-born also knows his way around the American West Coast. The man is more closely associated with the brand and the Porsche community than almost any other photographer. In addition to his many marketing shoots for Porsche, there is one main reason for this. It is his self-published 580-page RBook about the RGruppe, the legendary Californian Porsche Outsider Club.
Frank Kayser was born in Fulda in 1967. He grew up in this area and returned home after almost 20 years, some of which he spent abroad. “I have my base here. I travel a lot for work, often abroad, so the area really grounds me. The people here are down-to-earth, the children grow up carefree and the region is great for cycling”, says Frank, talking about his second passion.
Frank Kayser is a photographer, filmmaker and publisher. He has provided the Porsche scene with deep insights into the American Porsche culture.
His first an biggest passion, which has now also filled him professionally for over 30 years, is classic cars. I want to know where it all began and ask whether Frank was influenced by his family. “No, not at all. For my father, the car was always just an object to get from A to B. There was no one in the more distant family either. To be honest, I never really thought about it myself”, reports the well-traveled photographer.
“My passion for classic cars probably came from my affinity for furniture design, art and music of the 60s and 70s. The attitude to life that, for example, Johnny Cash and The Clash conveyed with their music, jazz, expressionist painting with Jackson Pollock and Jean-Michel Basquiat. This blatant, unbridled life that prevailed in the USA in particular at the time fascinated me immensely.”
Early on, Kayser became enthusiastic about the wild, exciting lifestyle in 1907s America. The USA became a kind of place of longing for him.
As a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s, in very conformist, conventional Germany, Frank wanted to break free from the shackles of society at an early age. “Young people in the USA were experiencing a spirit of optimism, discovering a new life with unleashed thought structures and a free attitude to life. I always thought that was great.”
“The colorful designs, the rocking, snotty look of the old Porsches from back then, that was so different.” Did the cars later become an expression of his inner rebel? “Yes, absolutely! I loved the shapes and the patina even back then. Perfectly restored cars have never been my thing. A car has to live, embody this wild and experimental attitude to life of the time.”
Frank Kayser bought his first classic during his civilian service in the mid-1980s. “I was driving to the service at the time and there were two MGBs in a garden under apple trees in a very small town with five houses. It turned out that the owner had just imported them from California and they were for sale. Lucky Me – I was immediately in love with one of the cars and just wanted to have it. I bought it straight away,” says the father of two.
Together with a friend, Frank dismantled the little roadster and painted it in British Racing Green, gave it a new leather interior and a beautiful set of chrome wire wheels. He also boldly worked on the engine and turned the roadster into his very own car. “While my friends preferred to drink a beer and drive BMW 3-Series or Golf GTIs, as a gin and tonic lover and MG driver, I was already an exotic back then.”
Today I often think to myself: Wow, the 80s were cool!
Frank Kayser
“Today I often think to myself: Wow, the 80s were cool! At the weekend, I sometimes put on my private records, lots of experimental stuff, synth sounds and all that English guitar music… it was really cool!” In the otherwise strictly Catholic area, Frank was non-conformist in every respect.
In the mid-90s, Frank’s path led him to photography. He devoted himself to advertising and product photography. In a former railroad station on the Rhine in Wiesbaden, he committed to opening his own photo studio. At this time, after his first professional successes, he bought his first Porsche. “It was a 1970 911 Targa“, Frank recalls.
We all have an early conditioning to things. What inspired you as a child, you want to experience yourself at some point when you have earned a bit of money and fulfill these dreams. That’s why I bought this car back then.
Frank Kayser
For Frank, it wasn’t about status or performance, though. “The design, the color, the story the car tells me… that’s all much more important to me than the performance. I am a great advocate of simple, well thought-out solutions. That’s why I like mechanical wristwatches, mid-century furniture, old McIntosh hi-fi systems and many other things that are characterized by quality and become more and more indispensable and beautiful over time… especially these old Porsches.”
Frank Kayser only really immersed himself in the world of automotive photography in 2006. Since then, he has created his own visual worlds for Lamborghini, Audi, BMW, Mercedes AMG, Ducati and Porsche. His productions are elaborate, often dangerous and always uncompromising. Sometimes he stages Lamborghinis on an aircraft carrier, sometimes he lies one and a half meters away from the asphalt at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man, while superbikes shoot past at 240 kph.
“Sometimes the rental car would be worn out after three days – brakes, tires, everything. But the main thing was that the images were right.” His work is not created on a computer, but in motion – at the speed that his subjects deserve. His clients also appreciate this. “I’ve been able to enjoy an incredible amount of insight behind the scenes at Porsche and am friends with many of the decision-makers. Although the company has now become a big store, Porsche still ticks differently, in a very familiar way.”
Kayser is not normally a fan of fully restored garage queens. “A car must have lived. I like these traces, the wildness. Just like with art, music or photography – anything that is genuine appeals to me”. His vehicles also reflect this approach. His 911 “Olive”, a 1969 911 T with a 2.7-liter engine, including dual ignition, is an RGruppe car through and through: loud, raw, honest.
Exciting colors, customization and patina – Frank Kayser prefers cars with soul.
“This car has never been restored, has original paintwork and endless patina. But it runs like hell.” Frank also owns two Porsche 964 Carrera RS in maritime blue and ruby star, a 1967 911 S in perfect condition and an unrestored ’73 911 Carrera RS – all vehicles with soul.
When talking to Frank, you quickly realize that the RGruppe is much more to him than just a self-published book. It is an entire chapter in his life. The photographer wanted to delve deep into what is probably the most exclusive Porsche Club in the world and portray it. Founded in 1999 by Freeman Thomas and Cris Huergas, the club quickly became world-famous for its unconventional interpretation of what an air-cooled Porsche should look like.
Frank Kayser went all in so as not to leave anything to chance with this project. “After my first contact with the guys, I realized: there’s so much in it, it’s so deep and honest. If you have this feeling that no one can tell the story like you can – then you have to do it yourself. Even if it hurts. I took out a 6-figure loan, flew to the USA several times with my team and worked on the pictures and road movies for 16 months straight. It wasn’t a simple project, but a profound experience. The family feeling of this group left a lasting impression on me. Nothing is staged, everything is real”, the photographer and filmmaker sums up today.
All this effort led to a book that portrays the Porsche scene in California in more detail than any other. The RGruppe book has become a kind of standard book in the Porsche scene and adorns countless coffee tables around the globe. Working with and for the RGruppe has also had a strong influence on Frank himself. “It’s all about the cars and the people. Leave the egos behind – that’s what Chris, the charismatic founder who sadly passed away, always said. And that is also my guiding principle.”
Someone as deeply involved in the American scene as Frank Kayser can report first-hand how the Porsche scene in California differs from European culture. “There’s a lot of collector thinking here – everyone wants original condition. I like to call it the Matching Numbers Society. In the USA, they celebrate German engineering, yes – but they live the cars. Whereas here they are treated more as an event object, the Americans live in them. The cars are part of their everyday lives.”
Europeans polish, Americans live
Frank Kayser
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the geography and the weather. “These cars are much better suited to the Californian West Coast, Arizona or New Mexico than to Central Europe. The Americans simply have more space and can drive all year round. Winter over there is like our German spring or fall.”
Frank partly regrets this himself. “You know, I have these wonderful cars, but I also always have a lot of stuff to haul around. I need lighting equipment, cameras, lenses, then the dog has to come along or the kids have to be driven around… But that also makes every single trip in the 911 something special.”
It is precisely because of these rare downtimes in which Frank Kayser drives his classic cars that the subjective sensory impression has become even more important to him. “When I get into a car and it smells of gas, oil, the old, sometimes musty material, the seats… that’s just it! You can’t create these impressions artificially. That’s why I’m still positive about the future of the classic Porsche!”
Frank compares the current situation with the 1980s: “Back in the 80s, we wanted to be everything but fitted. That’s why we cut our jeans open ourselves or sewed something in. We didn’t want to be like the others. And the more sensible and electric cars there are out there, the cooler it will be to have a car like that again. A car that has lived and tells stories – with patina and charm!
There has been a huge hype in recent years and we are currently experiencing a small dip, but as long as we have gas for our cars, the classic Porsche scene will live on.
Frank Kayser
I don’t need a car with 650 hp. I want to feel something, see something, smell something. Gas, leather, history. It’s like my pictures – if someone says: I’ve never seen anything like this before, then I’ve done it right.” Frank exhibits the results of this work in his FineArt exhibitions of which he offers some exclusive pieces as well.
Of course, I also want to know from Frank which Porsche would be his absolute dream if money were no object? The answer comes quickly: “An original Porsche 935 or 904!”
But this is where Frank gets personal again. “Cars are big-boy toys, of course. But it’s the people that matter. I have a lot of friends in this scene – not phonies, but freaks with soul. You can smell them like a dog can smell another at a distance of ten meters. And this is where Cris Huergas’ motto comes up again: “Leave your egos behind, it’s all about the cars and the people”. Leave your egos at home, talk to people, have a good time, be human, be a friend, be fair and be open!
© images: Frank Kayser
Elferspot magazine
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