The pictures were taken in and around Boston , Massachusetts by Leslie Jones, who was staff photographer at the Boston-Herald Traveler newspaper from 1917 to 1956. Mr. Jones captured everything that happened in the city for five decades and when he died in 1967, his family donated a vast collection of 34,000 prints to the Boston Public Library.

They included these fascinating photos of vintage car wrecks from the great motoring boom. Motor cars became affordable to the masses for the first time in the 1920s. By the end of the decade a Model T Ford cost $298, just a fraction of the $1,200 it cost in 1909.

The introduction of hire purchase also made it much easier for members of the public to buy cars, and by 1929, 20 per cent of Americans were on the road. Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were all competing for the boom in business and by the time the depression hit in 1929, Ford was producing more than one car every minute.

Technology meant these early cars were capable of achieving speeds of up to 50 miles per hour – but safety measures were nowhere near as advanced as they are today. Add in the fact drivers didn’t need to pass a test before they got behind the wheel, and it’s easy to see why accidents were frequent and often spectacular.

Thanks to Thor for the tip.

The last time we took a look at the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe, it was drifting the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. Today, we have photos of the AMG Coupe touring the streets of Germany from Germany’s finest photogs at Wötzel Photography.  Head to the gallery and click through to enlarge the photos to view the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe in all its glory.

At the St. Moritz Art Masters festival the German luxurious car brand Maybach presented its new mentoring project for the up-and-coming American photographer Garret Suhrie. Star photographer David LaChapelle and the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation are supporting the highly talented artist for a whole year, paving the way to an international career for him.

The leitmotif of this joint undertaking is the re-interpretation of “Exposure of Luxury”. At the same time it forms the next step of the cooperation with the US star photographer, which began a year ago with the artistic showcasing of Maybach luxury saloons and bore the titles “Exposure of Luxury” and “Berlin Stories”. Both photos are on display during the St. Moritz Art Masters – for selected guests at the Chesa Lumpaz. A lavish catalogued documentation of the photo shoot, by the name of “Bliss amongst Chaos” gives a comprehensive insight into the way in which David LaChapelle works.

In 26-year-old Garret Suhrie the team has found an up-and-coming photographer who already displayed an enormous amount of talent in his younger years, when he would document the decaying industrial facilities in his home city of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. After training to become a photographer in Philadelphia, Tokyo and Rome, he moved to Los Angeles, where he has been working since 2007. His portfolio encompasses a comprehensive range of works in the spheres of advertising, fashion and also editorial photo spreads for magazines like Flaunt, Blink and Collective. Several exhibitions, plus the inclusion of his pictures in National Geographic’s photo archive bear witness to the aspiring photographer’s abilities. Since 2007 Garret Suhrie has been working with David LaChapelle as a studio manager. During the St. Moritz Art Masters some images from his extensive oeuvre are also being shown at the Chesa Lumpaz.

“The nomination of Garret Suhrie as the mentoring scheme’s protégé was made unanimously”, explained Patrick Marinoff, Global Brand Manager Maybach. “He bowled everyone over with his huge talent and his very personal pictorial language. That’s why we are delighted to be able to support him on what will without doubt be his very successful career path”. Jutta Aldenhoff, Executive Director of the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation added: “All those involved in this mentoring project will play their part in ensuring that the year is a successful one for Garret Suhrie. The Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation is going to take on the project management role and together with David LaChapelle we will implement an individual plan for the mentoring year’s content and schedule.”

Tailor-made excellence – the mentoring scheme

“One of the most important things I can do in my career is to share my experience with aspiring artists. I have had the honor to work with and learn from some of the most important artists of our time. I feel that the time they spent with me would be wasted if I didn’t share what I learned from them. The Maybach Mentorship program has provided me with an amazing opportunity to share that knowledge with a young artist whose talent I believe in. I hope that in working with Garret Suhrie, I am able to offer him a fraction of the knowledge that so many have shared with me”, explained David LaChapelle. The star photographerwill be helping Garret Suhrie until August 2011, and during this time he will be accompanying his protégé at work and letting him share his experiences. In addition to this the young photographer will gain access to contacts on the international art scene via the network of David LaChapelle and the Maybach Foundation. The Maybach Foundation will also be organising exhibitions of his pictures in Europe and the USA, and integrating him in its own activities. A wide range of communications measures and financial support round off the package which the scheme is providing. The aim is to foster Garret Suhrie’s great talent with an eye on the long term, preparing the ground for an international career as a top photographer. “Until now, I’ve mostly been keeping my work to myself, not sharing it with any public audience. The most valuable thing anybody can give me is a forum to share my passions that are conveyed through the language of photography. So I am happy to have been chosen for the Maybach Mentorship program and hope to be able to pass on my experiences one day too”, said Garret Suhrie.

Maybach – commitment to art, focusing on three principal areas

For a number of years now Maybach has been successfully established in the international world of contemporary art. This tradition-steeped automotive Manufaktur works together with top international artists and backs renowned institutions on the art scene. This involvement began back in 2005, in the form of support for the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their spectacular project “The Gates” in New York’s Central Park.

Following further partnerships, the luxury brand presented the Maybach Art Cars – designed by Tim Berresheim in August 2009. The spectacular cooperation with David LaChapelle came later that same year. As well as working alongside individual artists, providing long-term support for internationally reputed institutions in the art world is another of the main focal points of Maybach’s involvement in art. These include the partnership with the Fondation Beyeler and cooperation with the Fondation Maeght. Maybach is also present at important events in the field of art, such as the St. Moritz Art Masters and Art Basel Miami Beach.

This work is rounded off by the linking of art and social commitment – in keeping with the mentoring philosophy of the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation. Through its involvement in art, Maybach creates exclusive access to art itself, artists and renowned art fairs and also to the brand and the saloons for its customers – in a unique vein with which Wilhelm Maybach would certainly have identified when he created his legendary car: luxurious, fascinating and ahead of its time.

One of the great things about our new lifestyle section here at eMercedesBenz is we get to talk about products outside the realm of just Mercedes that we either use or wish we were using.  Today’s subject  – the Canon EOS 5D Mark II – is an item I use pretty much daily, thanks in large part to the fact I have a new baby and a beautiful wife at home, both of whom I can’t seem to photograph enough.  Of course, if you’ve never picked up a camera aside from a simple point and shoot, the 5D Mark II is a bit of overkill and this article probably won’t make a whole lot of sense.  But, if you already know your way around an SLR and are looking for one of the best semi-professional digital cameras on the planet, hopefully I can help point you in the right direction.

So first things first:  let’s talk brand.  If you’re at all familiar with 35mm digital cameras, you’ll know there are two key players in the segment – Canon and Nikon.  I’m a huge Nikon fan, so my opinion of both Nikon and Canon will remain unbiased  (I owned the D700, Nikon’s competitor to the 5d Mark II, for over a year).  Ultimately, I sold the Nikon and went with the Canon 5d Mark II for a couple reasons.

First and foremost, the 5D Mark II uses a 21.1 megapixel sensor virtually identical to the one found in their top-of-the-line $6,000 EOS 1DS Mark III.  Will you ever need 21.1 megapixels?  Only if you’re blowing up your photos to ridiculously large proportions; however, in the event you need to heavily crop your image, you’ve got plenty of room to work with.  The Nikon D700 on the other hand boasts just over 12 megapixels, but with the added advantage of better noise handling at higher ISO’s.  In terms of overall image quality at normal print sizes, I would give both cameras an even score, meaning they can both produce astounding images, but the added resolution from the Canon is the icing on the cake.

But the real reason I went withe 5d Mark II over the D700 is its ability to shoot 1080p video that rivals the quality of professional video cameras costing ten times as much.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means a professional videographer, but having the ability to document my son’s first steps in high def really is priceless.  On top of that, Canon today has released new firmware for the 5D Mark II dropping the frame rates from 30fps and 24fps to 29.97fps and 23.976fps, respectively, finally bringing the 5d Mark II’s video functionality to industry standards (for those of you more adept at shooting video) and making video editing a whole lot easier.  By the way, if you already own the 5D II, you can download the latest firmware from this link at Canon Japan.

A few final points on the two cameras:  construction wise, the Nikon D700 is far superior to the 5D Mark II, and I continually find myself longing for the ergonomics of the Nikon.  The AF system of the Nikon is substantially more advanced than that of the Canon; however I find this is becoming less of an issue the more I’ve gotten accustomed to the Canon.  And lastly, there’s the price:  both cameras will set you back about $2,500; but for me, 1080p video recording makes the 5D Mark II a fantastic bargain.

If you’re interested in the Canon 5d Mark II, I purchased mine from Adorama, and I highly recommend them.  With digital cameras it’s common to see substantially reduced prices from a variety of sellers – almost all of which are scams – so make sure wherever you purchase from that the company is an authorized dealer and that you’re getting the U.S. model (not the import version). Canon’s also running a rebate promotion if you pair the 5D Mark II with a lens, meaning if you have been considering a new camera, now’s the time to buy. You can use promotional codes and coupons for savings on all cameras.