Geneva, January 30th 2008 – As a further stage in Wyler Genève's journey of rediscovering the world's historic routes, up-coming photographer Francesco Carrozzini has recently completed a road trip to document one of the USA's most famous routes, El Camino Real, for the brand. The resulting images will be shown later this year at an exhibition to coincide with Wyler Genève's presence at the JCK watch show in Las Vegas.Francesco Carrozzini followed the El Camino Real route for some 1000 miles (1600 kilometres) from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back again. Covering a mixture of historic sites and the dramatic coastal scenery and taking in such legendary highways as US 1 and US 101, Carrozzini returned with an eclectic mix of images to reflect his first-ever US road trip. As an established photographer on the fashion scene, his work having appeared in the likes of Vogue Italia, Libération and 10Magazine, Carrozzini is usually confined to one area for one day on his shoots. This trip therefore allowed him a greater freedom of expression on what he considered “less of an assignment, more of an adventure – the kind of job a photographer dreams of.” At the end of his road trip, he already missed the change of routine that the open road had offered him. “I found out that thinking about basic needs every day makes you feel more alive. Time had almost stopped and there was so much to see that, looking back, it feels like everything happened in one single and very short moment.”For the most authentic road trip experience, the photographer and his assistant opted for the traditional American “RV” (Recreational Vehicle, or motorhome) so that they could stick as close as possible to the El Camino Real route. Their six-day journey incorporated some of the more famous Californian sights, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Malibu, Los Angeles and the spectacular coast of US Highway 1, but also lesser known jewels such as the Danish town of Solvang.The project is part of Wyler Genève's quest to explore the world's great routes, an idea inspired by the brand's sponsorship of the 2007 Peking-Paris centenary. This 10,000 mile expedition saw the original Itala motor car that won the 1907 race from Peking to Paris retrace its steps on the return journey to modern-day Beijing, recalling a century of history and automotive evolution along the way. After the car took centre stage for the Paris-Beijing expedition, Wyler Genève chose a different approach for its El Camino Real project, for which evocative photography will be used to document the history, significance and modern-day feel of this important American artery. The brand will exhibit the final images later this year to coincide with the 2008 JCK watch show in Las Vegas in June. In the meantime, Francesco Carrozzini's personal diary of the trip, as well as some behind-the-scenes shots, can be viewed on the Wyler Genève website and downloaded from the company's Extranet site at http://wyler.share-d.com (registration required).
Carbon Neutral
Wyler Genève is the first Swiss watch brand to be certified CarbonNeutral by the UK's CarbonNeutral Company and therefore considers the environmental impact of all its activities. The 2 tonnes of CO2 produced by the flights and road trip of Francesco Carrozzini and his assistant have therefore been offset through a forestry project in Butano Falls, California. The project, managed by the Pacific Forest Trust, is based in San Mateo county, south of San Francisco and not far from the El Camino Real. This breathtaking area features some of the world's most beautiful forests and magnificent ancient trees, including protected Redwood parks and nine species of conifer. It is also home to rare salmon species, spotted owls, moose, a mass of rarely seen plants, the Russian River and Eel River Watersheds, and a historic steam powered sawmill. These areas are under threat from development, disappearing at a rate of 40% every 10 years. The CarbonNeutral programme promotes better forest management which helps conserve the structure and habitat of the forest. That, in turn, means the woodland is able to soak up larger quantities of the global warming gas, carbon dioxide. And that will help to protect our climate for future generations.Press release
Carbon Neutral
Wyler Genève is the first Swiss watch brand to be certified CarbonNeutral by the UK's CarbonNeutral Company and therefore considers the environmental impact of all its activities. The 2 tonnes of CO2 produced by the flights and road trip of Francesco Carrozzini and his assistant have therefore been offset through a forestry project in Butano Falls, California. The project, managed by the Pacific Forest Trust, is based in San Mateo county, south of San Francisco and not far from the El Camino Real. This breathtaking area features some of the world's most beautiful forests and magnificent ancient trees, including protected Redwood parks and nine species of conifer. It is also home to rare salmon species, spotted owls, moose, a mass of rarely seen plants, the Russian River and Eel River Watersheds, and a historic steam powered sawmill. These areas are under threat from development, disappearing at a rate of 40% every 10 years. The CarbonNeutral programme promotes better forest management which helps conserve the structure and habitat of the forest. That, in turn, means the woodland is able to soak up larger quantities of the global warming gas, carbon dioxide. And that will help to protect our climate for future generations.Press release
