WORDS Chris Hunter
IMAGES Scout Studios & Chris Hunt
Chris Hunt is a film photographer, ham radio operator, and desert dweller, who does everything the hard way. And that’s by choice.
e’s a photographer first; much of his work you’ve probably seen. He’s a regular creative partner of Sean Barber of New Legend 4x4 and Anything Scout. He’s covered the NORRA® Mexican 1000™ and The Mint 400® races in gritty detail. It’s his photography that dictates his instincts: pay attention, understand the tool, get closer to the thing itself. He also loves to head out into the Mojave Desert in his own 1979 Scout II™ Rallye™ model with his partner, Louisa, and their dog, Dusty. None of this is especially easy. And that, clearly, is part of the appeal.
“I think I’m always chasing discomfort in some way,” Chris admits. “I think in life, that’s where you find the most meaning.”
His mindset is entwined with his upbringing. Hunt is the child of Navy parents and grew up moving with his family through California, Washington, Guam, and Japan.
He discovered photography in college, became photo editor for the college paper, and then shot sports, weddings, and work for wire services before stepping away for a few years. He picked up a camera again when he started riding motorcycles, photographing his trips, and since then, he’s rarely without a camera by his side.
“Photography to me is the way that I like to experience the world. Without a camera, I can feel a bit lost.”
In his images, Hunt is not looking for polished perfection or staged moments. He’s after photographs that feel real: people caught in genuine moments; images with light, shadow, and depth; scenes with layers that reward a second look.
“I’m chasing growth, which means I’m constantly doing things that are uncomfortable.”
The camera is not just a recording device for him. It is a way of finding his way into a place.
“What’s really important to me is that it feels authentic.”
He talks about shooting film and learning amateur radio alike. Film means understanding exposure, development, printing, and camera mechanics. Amateur radio, otherwise known as ham radio, demands fluency: getting FCC licensed, learning bands and modes, building a station. Hunt has even recently learned Morse code and no longer uses a mic.
“I love my hobbies and anything I can do to increase the time I spend doing them is a plus.”
This preference for the tangible shapes the rest of his life. He values physical things in a culture flattening everything into a screen.
Books and magazines matter because they carry weight beyond a social post. Film matters because it demands more of the user. Ham radio matters because it rewards patience and knowledge, not just convenience.
None of these pursuits are about nostalgia. “It’s about mastery and understanding how things work,” he says.
He applies the same logic to his appetite for novelty and discomfort. New roads, new distances, sleeping on the ground, trying things that do not yet feel easy. This is how people adapt, and adaptation is where memories and growth come from. He’s suspicious of routine and the way it can make time collapse into sameness.
“Our brains and bodies only grow when they do something new or novel,” Chris observes. “Doing something new is hard. When people say, ‘Time flies as you get older,’ what they’re really saying is: ‘People tend to get into a routine as they get older and they stop trying new things.’”
“I’m chasing growth, which means I’m constantly doing things that are uncomfortable.”
His Scout® truck fits neatly into that worldview. Hunt drives one of the last of the breed: a 1979 Scout II™ wearing the distinctive striped decals of the Rallye™ package.
He bought it six years ago from a stranger who, it turned out, was economical with the truth about its condition. The engine was dead, the frame was bent from an undisclosed collision, and the rear axle was not up to punishing desert terrain.
So the truck became something much more involved than a tidy old-vehicle purchase. Sean Barber at Anything Scout replaced the dead engine with a 4.8L LS V8, paired with a cold air intake and a three-inch exhaust. All that power is routed through a 6-speed automatic, and a tough NP241C chain-driven transfer case with a slip yoke eliminator. The bent frame was replaced entirely.
From there, the build continued methodically: a new rear axle, along with front and rear disc brakes. Then a one-inch body lift, and a 2.5-inch Rough Country® suspension kit to clear 33×10.5×15 tires. Plus, a beefy front bumper from Anything Scout, and a long list of ancillary replacements and upgrades. The spec sheet runs to almost two pages.
Even so, Hunt does not romanticize the vehicle. Louisa may have named it Jillie the Grey, but he sees it in simpler terms.
“I think of the truck as reliable, simple, and repairable,” he says.
It’s not just talk. When a shock broke off, the truck kept on going for another five thousand miles thanks to those giant leaf springs. When a bump stop failed, Hunt welded a random piece of metal to the frame and went straight into another trip. These moments are not interruptions to his story. They are the story.
“I’ll always say, ‘This is going to make a great memory,’” says Hunt. “These moments are the moments that people talk about when sitting around a campfire.”
The trips usually begin in Landers, a desert town a few miles north of Joshua Tree National Park, where Hunt and Louisa are based. The Mojave is not just background scenery here: it is part of the rhythm of their life together, a partnership that has grown through shared trips, climbing, running, navigation, and the accumulation of experience.
Louisa sharpens the picture of Hunt rather than softening it. She sees the same quality in him that his photographs and truck suggest: an openness to uncertainty and the unknown.
“You have to plan, and Chris just walks into the world like, ‘yeah, we can do this,’” Louisa says. “It’s been really freeing, and that is a gift.”
Hunt clearly values that quality in her. For this couple, adventure is a shared deep dive that has shaped where they live, how they travel, and the friendships they have built during their trips.
Despite the analog gear, old hardware, and repaired machinery, none of this feels backward-looking. Hunt does not come across as someone hiding from the modern world so much as choosing his own terms for engaging with it.
He likes tools that ask for attention and return something durable. He likes experiences that present challenges. He likes the unfamiliar — not because it sounds romantic, but because it keeps life from descending into routine.
“I think I’m most excited for the unknown,” he says. “I’m excited for the trips that we don’t have planned yet.”
“I look forward to what I don’t know is coming.”
Disclaimer: Scout Motors celebrates the legacy of Scout vehicles and the passionate community that keeps them alive. However, Scout Motors does not sell, restore, or provide parts or services for vintage Scout vehicles. Any modifications or restorations featured are the work of individual owners or third-party specialists.
