Check out Mike Mandel's incredible photo series of people in the 1970s in cars

Mike is one half of artistic power duo Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel, a pair who from the 1970s through to the 1990s used the camera to create curious, innovative documentary-style series that doubled up as intriguing works of art. Many of their projects are some of the most selfless, fascinating research-based works ever made. The other day in the office we all found ourselves immersed in Mike’s Flickr page, upon which he has placed his specific series of photographs.

One contains his somewhat legendary baseball photographs, one is just shots of motels (which is spectacular), another is just entitled “70s” and is a collection of photographs taken in America the era I feel I was meant to be born in. There is something truly, truly magical about this specific series, People in Car Photos 1970 – pretty self-explanatory but so magical that I have revisited these photos five times since discovering them, just to check they’re still real. Before you start scrolling and getting excited, take a second to properly look at the image at the top of this page – a teenager is being driven along by his Dad, he sees someone trying to take his photo and gives them two fingers with what is, I think, the most nonchalant expression I’ve ever seen. So great.