Two scots and an englishman walk onto a track: Seven World Championships between them. They evoke the very best of British racing in true form. Jackie, Jim and Graham. They took the race to the teetering edge and secured thrones in the high dais of Legend. Many believe Jim would have gone on to many more wins but was taken on that fateful day in ’68 at Hockenheim.
What ho..
I don’t know if you can remember. or ever saw..but for Sports Personality of the year on the BBC, the BBC had got into the habit of asking Graham Hill and JYS on to do a knock-about talk spot for that years’ GP scene. From memory, late 60’s early 70’s.. they were a joy.. and stole the show.
They both appeared on an early Parkinson and stole that too. If you remember, it didn’t take much to get Parky giggling.. and our two were wonderful.
The tragedy of this photograph is not so much the loss of two great drivers, but I would suggest the loss of the innocence of motor sport from that period. It WAS a very different world, before modern demands placed drivers in ever unreachable ivory towers.
In the 60′ and even 70’s,
I used to wander thro’ the pits in the UK with a camera.. all completely open, tho’ as we got into the 70’s pit passes seemed to become necessary.? At any/most internationals you could and DID see a posse of world champions, driving, racing, chatting, fooling around and more gorgeous girls than Playboy ever did.
I had boxes of photo’s but a divorce and 5 [five!] house moves in an 18 month period from Carlisle to darkest Yorkshire and they are.. gone.? Who knows where and no film negs either.. they were in the [shoe] boxes.. bugger eh.
As an aside.. here I have been trying to sell two camera kits.. superb film camera’s with a number of good lenses each and extra’s.. motordrive, sky etc filters for each of the lenses. One camera is an Olympus OM1 with 3 lenses and many extra’s.. all mint.. I was offered as a best price.. get this.. £20.!
The other camera is is a 2004 Nikon F80 with 3 lenses/filters/ original boxes/ handbook etc.. all mint.. £50.!
I was stunned.! I didn’t expect them to be antiques but their condition is stunning and thought that might be worth something.. apparently not.?
So, I have contacted the head of the photography department at the local [Carlisle.. and VERY highly regarded.!] Art College to see if the students can make use of it all. He is to get back to me. But not so far.? Sounds promising.?
Regards B
You are soooo right with that one..
I first bought a Zenit model E in the 60’s. At most events, the only SLR’s were being used by the pro’s and just a few diehards like me.! I talked to the pro’s for years, but with the prices then and the scarcity.. I couldn’t afford the good stuff and was afraid that in dear old Carlisle I would get no support for any gear I bought,?
The upturn came when Olympus introduced the OM1.. I think early 80’s.. it was then a gamechanger.. so tiny and with superb optics,
I had such fun with it.
Far from being one of few out there with an SLR back in the day, what never fails to amaze me is the number of people out everywhere with full-on SLR’s and mega lenses.. and they are everywhere.!
Thing is.. I’ve said this to you before, with the advent of digital.. we’re all photographers now.. no worries about the shot [except wobble.!] everything is in focus and as you point out above, can be improved etc.. amazing and no wonder the users today needn’t worry about the mechanics or physics of the dark art.. the Digi camera does it all for them. And perfect results every time.. have you ever stood outside the chemists shop and opened the film packet with enormous trepidation only to find.. RUBBISH!! good Gawd.!
Well I have.. but only disappointment at the huge standards I set for myself..
Hey ho
Due to the sore hands thing.. I’ve given up on SLR’s, I simply cannot manage them. Sooooo, I’m going for two fairly light camera’s..
a Fujifilm X20, which is EXQUISITE and in the style of a Leica.. have a shufty if you haven’t already and the other is a Fujifilm HS50, a bridge camera with many good features which will do the SLR job for as much as I need to.
Both camera’s achieve high scores in UK camera mags.. in the order of over 90 out of 100.. so some quality they reckon and having handled them.. I based my choice on the advice and results from the magazines.
Like buying a car.
Speak soon, thanks for this.
Regards ever
B
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