PolaRacer documents a slice of Balinese life, the custom bike scene. The reason is as simple as my love for bikes and cars. I am a petrol head. The use of an instant film camera, the Polaroid 195, is accidental; I was in Bali with my Polaroid 195 and a stash of the instant film when I started the project. Sure, I am an instant film devotee, owning a fridge at home with stockpiled instant film. Being able to produce a high-quality print on the spot, it’s just amazing, even more so in the digital era; the photographer is no longer, a mere recorder of reality, he becomes a prestidigitator pulling out tricks from his little box, and who does not love magic?

This book is an homage to the builders and their creations. Builders capable of giving new life to long-forgotten machines through welding, cutting and shaping, turning them into roaring and shiny machines. And this is magical too.