Almost two years after volume two, Shimano, Thomas Genon, JB Liautard and Jules Langeard return from the United States with the third episode of their series, The Art of MTB, devoted to the artistic aspect of freeriding. The three partners in crime have made a true road trip, American-style, to offer people dreams and escapeism.
It all starts in the crazy lights of Las Vegas, and ends in the silent splendor of the desert, near Virgin (Utah), on the former spot of Red Bull Rampage. In real Road Movie style, with the calm voices of Hollywood narrators, the movie is divided in 9 chapters, one per shooting location. When the weather doesn’t allow it, Tommy G does urban tricks in front of an old gas pump or at the skate park with local riders. They even had snow on their journey.
As soon as the conditions allow, JB (photography), Jules (Cinematography & edit) and Tommy G reveal the extent of their talents in the desert, between mythical freeride places and little known, even unexplored areas. Some discovered via Google earth. Scenic images, with nature as the main actor – rocks, red sand, blazing sun – infinite shades of light and Tommy’s Canyon bikes (his Stitched 720 & Torque al) dwarfed by the landscape, like the first step of man on the moon. And in the end, it is the freerider who put it all on the line, for our greatest pleasure.
I came to be passionate and completely motivated for this sport after seeing things that inspired me. Whether it’s competitions, whether it’s videos, whether it’s photos in magazines. That’s really what built me and built this passion when I was younger. When you’re working on these projects, you don’t necessarily benefit from it at the time. It’s not like a competition, here’s the trophy, here’s the first place. The whole idea is to give back to the mountain bike scene, to give back to our community. If there are difficult moments… I think of the people who will watch the video. I hope they will appreciate it and I hope to motivate them as others have motivated me before, by taking a great photo, performing a great figure or, a great video.
Thomas Genon
When I take pictures of bikes, there are a lot of parameters that come into play. But the three main ones are the light, the landscape, and the action. There is not one that is really less important than the other. It is always a game between these three parameters. There is always one who will be more privileged than the other.
JB Liautard
It was the first time I’d accompanied them on the whole project, for the cinematographic part. This allowed JB to concentrate exclusively on photography. The documentary tries to show the sometimes-delicate balance between the desire for scenic/artistic photos and the desire to do technical tricks. It’s a real reflection that we asked ourselves during the ten days of our trip in the US.
Jules Langeard
The art of MTB series is one of the sport-content projects we are the most proud of at Shimano, working together with Tommy, JB and Jules is just amazing. Each of them share pure talent, creativity and technical skills in their respective fields, no wonder why the result of their work is so powerful and inspiring. Enjoy this incredible adventure and the finest fusion between the arts of MTB and photography!
Tommaso Amadio, Sports Marketing Manager EMEA – Shimano