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Air - Water 2026 — A Photographic Essay

OC Fair & Event Center · Costa Mesa, California

Air | Water brought together different expressions of Porsche culture: road cars, competition machines, carefully considered builds and the people drawn to them.

This selection follows the details that caught my attention—the relationship between a car and its surroundings, familiar shapes seen from another angle, and the moments when visitors stopped for a closer look.

 

 

Race car banners hanging on a metal truss under a cloudy sky


The Setting

The Hangar’s broad façade, palm-lined grounds and open display spaces gave the photographs a sense of place. Outside, cars sat beneath an overcast sky; indoors, window light and reflections on the concrete floor changed the mood. Moving between those spaces became part of the photographic story.

 

Crowd outside The Hangar at a Porsche Air Water auction, with classic cars and overcast sky

Outside The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center



A Closer Look

The smaller details invite another look: the curve of a fender, the finish of a wheel, an open engine compartment. These photographs move between those perspectives, following the shapes and individual choices that distinguish one Porsche from the next.

 

Two classic Porsche sports cars parked nose to nose, one black and one white, with custom wheels.

The same…but different.



In Focus: The Interscope 935 K4

Built by Kremer in 1981 for Interscope Racing, chassis K4/02 is one of only two Porsche 935 K4s produced. Associated with drivers Ted Field and Danny Ongais, the car was restored by Canepa Motorsports and presented publicly following its restoration at Air | Water 2026.

 

 

Black race car displayed on a wooden platform at an outdoor car show under cloudy skies

Framed Racing Heritage



Competition on Display

Race numbers, sponsor graphics and purposeful bodywork brought another visual language to the event. The displays offered space to study these cars closely—from a complete side profile to the details that can disappear in a passing glance.

 

 

 

Vintage Porsche race car displayed in a wooden frame at an indoor event
Vintage Porsche race car number 01 on display at an indoor car show with spectators nearby

Porsche competition, Vasek Polak & Porsche/Audi



The People Around the Cars

Visitors crouched beside bodywork, raised cameras and gathered in conversation. Those interactions belong in the story alongside the cars themselves. They show how an automotive gathering becomes a shared experience, shaped by curiosity and the time people spend looking.

 

 

 

 



Photographed, edited and written by Mike Johnson - Camera & Pen.

For editorial assignments, event coverage and image licensing, please get in touch.

 

See The Complete Photo Set

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