Harvard

The VIP tent at the annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge in the Hamptons is always quite a scene, but this year attendees noticed the space was particularly plush. That's because Diamond Teak, one of the key sponsors at this year's event, furnished the VIP area with heirloom-quality pieces from its Spirit Song Collection (above). The company was founded by two Harvard grads, Kevin and Christine Yardley, who volunteered with the World Teach Organization in Costa Rica. They conceived of Diamond Teak as a way of bringing an entrepreneurial spirit to protecting the environment and boosting the local economy there. They now have over 12 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) / Smartwood certified plantations, protecting over 1.000 acres of jungle terrain. Diamond Teak is an end result of this process - the finest teak wood furniture from the best wood hand-selected by master crafts people. The company has accrued a broad range of high-profile clients, including Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, and Sarah Jessica Parker. The Spirit Song Collection's elegant curves mimic organic forms in nature, combining golden tropical hardwood with shimmering marine-grade stainless steel.

All week we've been treated to gorgeous new cars from the world's leading marques at the Geneva Motor Show. In most of the pictures we also got a tantalizing glimpse of thigh, shapely arm or other anatomical fragment of the equally alluring models hired to show off the luxurious machines to best advantage. For most these women are a mere sideshow, a sort of added attraction, but for Dutch artist Jacqueline Hassink they're the main event. Hassink, who has received critical acclaim for her books and exhibitions that deal conceptually with issues of power and social relations, spent the past five years traveling to three continents photographing car show girls.

The resulting body of work from major car shows in seven different cities on three continents, including New York, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, Detroit, and Shanghai, is collected in her new book, Car Girls (Aperture, $85). Hassink used these sites to reflect on "differing cultural values with regard to their ideal images of beauty and women." The series captures the moments during the women's performances when they "become more like dolls than individuals." The luxuriously produced book, limited to an edition of 1,500 copies, takes a subversively fun yet conceptually astute approach to examining "differing cultural values and ideal images of femininity as used to define corporate identity," and luxury car brands in particular.

"Car companies are global players who need to continually re-present themselves to local markets," Hassink notes. "Each year they show off their latest car models at extravagantly staged shows in major cities across the globe. The shows that take place in Detroit, New York, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Geneva, and Paris are the most important according to the industry. Less important are the shows in New York and Shanghai. At these shows, the auto manufacturers take great pains to distinguish their brands, but they all present their latest cars in the same way: with the help of female models. Essentially, the women become tools to present the corporate image in a very distinctive way." See the gallery for examples from Ferrari, Maserati and more.