Racing Cars and Crowds

This collection of racing event photos was a great find. It had been kept in a musty garage and had developed a thick white mold which, when cleaned off, revealed a small treasure of images from 1962 South Africa. The names on some of the cars are those of international racing drivers so my guess is that this was the South African Grand Prix – held that year at the Prince George circuit in East London. It was still 5 years before Kyalami was built in Johannesburg. The film showed a fair amount of damage after cleaning so I went with a textured effect when processing and styling them.

Automobile racing in the 1960s was a firm part of South African culture. It thrived despite boycotts from the late 1950s due to the county’s politics. In the end it was the high cost of running the annual race that was it’s demise. The 1992 SA Grand Prix was the final race in a tradition which had begun in 1934.

My Dad grew up in Johannesburg and regularly attended race events at Kyalami. He was such a fan that when the family moved to Cape Town he started taking us – his two daughters – on outings to the race tracks at Goodwood. Our favorite was stock car racing.