The Action-Packed ‘Life At Shutter Speed’ Book Launch
Automotive photographer Larry Chen signs copies of his coffee table book ‘Life At Shutter Speed,’ published by Carrara Media, for fans during Type S Night in Long Beach, Calif. Photos by Willie Toledo.
Carrara Media is unique in the world of publishing. That’s because we use our books to bring together auto enthusiasts in their natural environment. There was no better example of that than this five-week stretch in October and November, 2025.
The launch of Life At Shutter Speed by automotive photographer Larry Chen provided us with an incredible opportunity to be a home base for car fans. We responded by curating five unique and incredibly popular activations stretching from L.A. to Las Vegas.
First, the official release of Life At Shutter Speed kicked off at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Chen signed copies for hours, as fans came to celebrate the book, check out new model cars from Kaido House and TenMile Diecast, and tour the Ken Block exhibit “People’s Champ” on its final day.
Not one week later, we brought the fun to the Japanese Classic Car Show down the coast in Long Beach. This was the event’s 20th anniversary celebrating the very best in JDM cars and culture. We held our booth alongside Chen’s personal Bayside Blue R34 Skyline GT-R, and helped assist the launch of his new merch line Cameras and Car Culture.
Then it was time for Type S Night. After a raging success at the Queen Mary back in April, Chen and his sponsor Type S hosted a second meetup atop a parking garage in downtown Long Beach that closely mirrored the classic underground car scene in Tokyo. We were thrilled to have Carrara Media participate and become a hotspot for the crowds.
There were incredible builds, awesome music and a scenic sunset, plus a presentation about the upcoming movie Drifter written and directed by actor Sung Kang. Many people said the night was the closest thing to Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift they’d ever experienced. As soon as the night ended we packed and moved everything downstairs to show at the Formula Drift Shoreline Showdown for two days of intense drifting competition. It was a three-day auto extravaganza.
The following weekend came Radwood SoCal, which is the traveling car show hosted by Hagerty that celebrates cars and culture from the 1980s and ‘90s. This was the third Radwood held at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, and we showed up in style alongside a white R34 Skyline GT-R to accompany our titles Cult of GT-R and Life At Shutter Speed. The guests who stopped by included a who’s-who of impactful auto journalists and creators who’ve worked at Super Street, Jalopnik, Donut, Hoonigan and more. Totally tubular.
Finally, the marathon ended with a four-day appearance at the Specialty Equipment Market Association, or the SEMA Show, in Las Vegas. This year, Larry Chen began his three-year appointment as the official Featured SEMA Show Artist, and his photography plastered the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. At our booth we offered copies of Life At Shutter Speed, which Chen signed on the spot, and promptly sold out our entire stock in two days. Friends of the author like T.J. Hunt, Magnus Walker and Hertrech “Hert” Eugene Jr. all came by to say congratulations, among industry insiders like Mike Spagnola, CEO of SEMA.
While the sun set on Sin City, our epic launch schedule came to a close. It was an unforgettable chapter in the Carrara Media book — the culmination of a longstanding dream to use books as a tool to serve the car community, and forge new friendships and write new stories that last a lifetime. Looking back, Carrara Media was the only book publisher involved in any of these outstanding automotive events. That’s a badge of honor we’ll carry with us into 2026 and beyond. And now that we know it can be done, we look forward to more events and releases that keep the good times coming.
To learn more about Life At Shutter Speed and other books, click here.