Preparing to win - Richard Kelley Zoom

Preparing to win

Richard Kelley

30x45
cm
50x75
cm
60x90
cm
80x120
cm
100x150
cm
Fine Art print
Baryta Hahnemühle 315g
Alu mounted print
Hanging bars
Shadow
Gap Frame
Black/White/Oak wood
Acrylic print
Aluminium brace
Starting

75,00 €

LocationWatkins Glen Circuit, USA
Prints issueLIMITED EDITION 30 prints ONLY
Shooting date7 octobre 1979
Original pictureNegative
FormatsPortrait orientation
Era1960-1980
ColorsBlack&White
CollectionCelebs
Richard Kelley
Richard Kelley

I have been a photojournalist, writer, communicator and historian for most of my life.

I gravitated to the work of W. Eugene Smith, and the Magnum photographers; Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Joseph Koudelka. Their common approach became my mantra: make images that tell a story; remove yourself; disappear; leave out the vanity; and, make emotional and elegantly composed images that point to a truth about your subject.

I began my Formula One documentary in 1972, just nine months after I first began to make images.

Although underage, I was able to get full accreditation for the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. I was immediately swept up in the tangible drama of the pit lane and its compelling images. From 1972 through 1984, I captured the intimate moments of drivers who fought to survive in a Formula One era that was rapidly undergoing the most comprehensive changes to drivers, cars and technology in Grand Prix history.

Early on, it was clear that these technological developments were influencing the spirit, passion and bravery that I was recording of that time, and so I decided to adopt the style of Cartier-Bresson and become “a fly on the wall”; getting as close as I could to the telling moments without influencing the emotion or the drama of the moment. 

I consciously backed away and didn’t go looking for moments; I just waited to let those moments compel me to make an image. And, as luck would have it, I witnessed and recorded hidden moments that became pivotal incidents in Grand Prix history.

After positions at the Chicago Tribune and Observer Newspapers in Detroit, I began a 20-year association with Car and Driver Magazine, traveling the world to provide art for over 600 feature stories and numerous covers.

As always, I pursued personal photographic projects, capturing the human condition outside of my newspaper and magazine work.

I also expanded my photography by providing creative content for media and marketing materials for many of the largest multinational automotive manufacturers in the United States. Clients included: Audi, Mazda, BMW, Volkswagen, Porsche, Ford, General Motors, Kia, Subaru, and Jaguar.

I transitioned my photography to include writing and editing in 1998.

In 2001, I joined Mitsubishi as Senior Manager of Media Relations, helped launch the Lancer Evolution 8. I became Manager of North American Motorsports in 2003, winning the SCCA Pro Rally Championship Manufacturers’ National Open Class title with the new Evo. From there, I went on to provide public relations management for another multi-national Japanese auto company for a further eight years…

Throughout these decades, I could never forget the intimate Grand Prix images I had captured and the experiences of being a “fly on the wall” in the world of Formula One.

So, I am reclaiming my soul with this collection of never-before published Grand Prix documentary photography. I believe they offer unique impressions of amazing driver’s and athletes, and moments that changed their lives forever.

The initial presentation of my images took place in the fall of 2013 in Hong Kong, courtesy of an exhibition hosted by Blackbird Automotive and in conjunction with McLaren’s 50th Anniversary. My collection and memoirs will become later the basis for a book.

I have also returned to creating new digital work, in both monochrome and color, on fresh editorial assignments and personal sports projects that will again allow me to record human drama, struggle and grace, with all its emotion, patina, and nuance, such as Macau’s growing influence on Formula One.

And as before, I’m enjoying a creative adventure lived as "a fly on the wall." 

Thank you for joining me on this continuing journey.

Despite driving for Ferrari his entire career, Gilles Villeneuve never drove anything close to a dominant car. While he won only six Grands Prix, watching him toss and catch a recalcitrant car on the limit made you his fan for life.

To his fellow Grand Prix drivers, he was the fastest man they ever saw and the cleanest pure racer they ever competed against. To millions of Formula One fans in Italy and throughout the world, he remains their beloved hero.

Here, Gilles Villeneuve is alone in his 312T4, at noon, October 7, as rain approaches and he prepares to win the 1979 US Grand Prix. In the midst of nervous drivers waiting until the last instant to climb in, Gilles’ sat calmly in his cockpit as if in a ‘bubble’, belts already pulled to near race-tightness; no small cadre of engineers leaning on the chassis, discussing tactics, no Mauro Forghieri urging him to nail his start.

There simply was no need.

Gilles had devastated the entire field during that weekend’s torrential rain-soaked Friday practice; setting times 22 seconds faster than any Goodyear shod car, and a staggering 12 seconds faster than teammate and new World Champion, Jody Scheckter. With Scheckter now champion, Gilles was free to race for himself; doing lap after lap on the limit for the sheer joy of it.

He was preparing to do it again.
As he sat in perfect silence, delicately pulling on his gloves, the air began to smell of rain. If he was conscious of the worsening conditions, his face never betrayed his emotions. On that day, it was clear he would drive the only way he knew; pedal flat to the stops.

The rain arrived 20-minutes before the start, and he won going away, by 48-seconds.

I made this image with a Nikon F3, and a Nikon 180mm f/2.8 telephoto, using Kodak Tri-X film rated at 1600 ASA, 1/500 second at f/2.8, on the afternoon of October 7, 1979, at the Grand Prix Circuit at Watkins Glen, NY, USA.

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Preparing to win - Richard Kelley

Preparing to win - Richard Kelley

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