Out of its formal shadow, Phantom effortlessly glides into an “off duty” mode. Aaron wastes no time in framing the motor car against some of the less obvious locations in Kuala Lumpur such as Jalan Alor, Petaling Street, Bukit Bintang and Kampung Baru.

Dressed in English White, Phantom peers into the night with its 600 meter range laserlights, making its presence felt with its bold styling.

Unstaged, unrehearsed, Phantom is greeted like a superstar around Kuala Lumpur - the subject of numerous selfies and side conversations with the accompanying Rolls-Royce team.

Phantom ‘Off Duty’ in Kuala Lumpur

Cue to Kuala Lumpur, the nation’s capital and largest city in Malaysia as well as the luxury, financial and economic centre of the region: home and business centre to Rolls-Royce customers.

The sheer diversity of Kuala Lumpur’s multi–ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual society, combined with its mix of traditional and modern architecture, presents a fascinating backdrop for Phantom.

It is a city full of character with contrasting nuances, rustic back alleys and an amazing blend of various influences. An opportunity for photographer Aaron Lee to do a creative night study of the motor car while inspired by the eclectic influences that only a city like Kuala Lumpur can provide.

Perhaps as a consequence of this ethos, Rolls-Royce vehicles are always seen as highly structured but somewhat old-fashioned expressions of luxury.

Showing off a less formal side of the brand, Rolls-Royce recently teamed up with a couple of renowned photographers to capture the stunning beauty of Phantom and Cullinan in a couple of stunning night shoots.

For decades, a Rolls-Royce luxury vehicle has been the choice of the world’s most influential and powerful individuals. From sports stars to celebrities regardless of gender, the famed Spirit of Ecstasy has graced some of history’s most defining moments over the last century.

The spirit of Rolls-Royce is of uncompromising luxury, an unrelenting drive to achieve perfection in engineering and craftsmanship.

"Take the best that exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it. Accept nothing nearly right or good enough," co-founder Sir Henry Royce once said, and it is the guiding principle that still drives the creation of every Rolls-Royce automobile produced.

To celebrate the arrival of this transformative motor car, automotive culture photographer, Mark Riccioni, was invited by Rolls-Royce to create a pictorial series of Black Badge Cullinan greeting fellow automotive subcultures in Greater Los Angeles, California. Following his assemblage of these exceptional vehicles, each of which acutely represents the subculture it belongs to, he captured each encounter under the cover of darkness.

Black Badge Cullinan ‘King of the Night’ in Los Angeles

Rolls-Royce’s Black Badge motor cars respond to a subset of clients who connect with the marque with wilfully disruptive intentions. They seek to subvert expected codes of luxury and create highly Bespoke and unapologetic symbols of their lifestyles.

Cullinan Black Badge was created for this group of remarkable men and women, many of whom have come to describe the Black Badge aesthetic and philosophy as an automotive subculture in its own right: one defined by uncompromised luxury, unrelenting power and darkness.  

In addition, items requested by Riccioni were included, such as Sennheiser PXC550 MkII noise cancelling headphones, Persol PO3225-S sunglasses, outerwear from streetwear brand Supreme and a water bottle. The automated Recreation Module was expertly trimmed in Forge Yellow leather to match the Black Badge Cullinan’s interior colourway.

To assist with this extraordinary project, the Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, created a unique Recreation Module for Riccioni’s endeavour. The unit, Internally codenamed ‘Urban Photography’, was conceived to incorporate equipment specific to his photography requirements. These include a DJI Mavic Mini drone, 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro and 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro for image capture and editing on location.