Recording motorsport legends in portrait photographs has become the basis of an exhibition and book
From an early age, Indira Flack always had a creative urge, but it took a while before she discovered the right medium. After studying fabric design, she was encouraged by her teachers to switch to photography, which resulted in a successful career taking portraits.
While recovering from a cycling accident in 2013, Indira decided she needed a new project. Her partner, Paul Lund, suggested motorsport heroes. “Iʼd previously been commissioned for Country Lifeʼs ʻThe Great British Hobbyʼ,” she says, “which gave me the idea of celebrating drivers past and present, plus stars of the future.” Over the following 10 years, Indira contacted and photographed more than 100 drivers for a superb book, Great British Racing Drivers, which supports the charity Race Against Dementia and has an introduction by its founder, Sir Jackie Stewart, an early subject.
Many of the images involved visits to the driversʼ homes. “John Surtees was fantastic,” Indira says. “After the photography, he made us tea and we all sat in his kitchen for an hour chatting.” Tragically, many of the older racing legends featured have since passed away, but Indiraʼs portraits of Jack Sears, Paddy Hopkirk, Vic Elford and Norman Dewis really capture these much-missed characters.
From the first portraits of Sir Stirling Moss and Surtees at the beginning of the project, every driver Indira approached was delightfully co-operative during her visits. Many really went to town to help, none more so than Stuart Graham: “Because he is a TT champion with ʼbikes and cars, we wanted to highlight both. Stuart had the idea of putting his driving overalls over his leathers and then just lay down on the settee. He got the concept instantly and was such fun to work with.”
For the rallying Tejpar family, Nabila and father Aziz wanted to highlight three generations of motorsport, plus a passion for baking. “Nabila turned up with some fresh marble cake and we shot them teamed
