THE ART OF FREEZING SPEED IN F1
WHEN RAINER SCHLEGELMILCH went against the wishes of his father to become a photographer rather than pursuing a career as a lawyer, the motorsport world became all the richer.
During his 55-year career, the German produced a remarkable body of work and set new standards for the artistry of Formula 1 photography, with his archive now curated by the Motorsport Network. Rainer W Schlegelmilch: Freezing Speed, which premieres on Motorsport.tv on Saturday, tells his story.
The documentary, narrated by James Allen, features two very familiar faces – Bernie Ecclestone and Sir Jackie Stewart – who explain just how significant Schlegelmilch became in the world of grand prix racing.
“Rainer was more than just a photographer, he was more than an artist,” says Stewart. “He was a psychologist almost, looking at motorsport, because he’s got as many photographs of the people as he has of the cars.”
And Stewart is right, with part of the documentary focused on Schlegelmilch’s remarkable portraits from the 1960s and ’70s. In fact, in keeping with a man whose career has been dedicated to capturing moments, parts of this documentary are more about encapsulating F1 in that era than the artist doing the photographing. We actually see little of the excellent work from the later years of his career, which ended with his retirement this year, for this is the story of an earlier time.
Schlegelmilch himself considers the late 1960s and early ’70s to be the golden age of motor racing, and it’s fascinating to see how Stewart and Ecclestone respond to his photographs. The film also covers tragedy, and the photograph Schlegelmilch took of
Nina Rindt in the Monza pits in ’70, which Stewart suspects was taken shortly after Jochen’s crash but before the consequences were known, is moving. Those used to characterising Ecclestone as a hard-nosed businessman only interested in money will be surprised to see the genuine
emotion when recalling the death of a driver he was so close to – and his quiet reflection on why it’s important that safety standards have improved.
Schlegelmilch’s move into colour photography brings us to the titular technique freezing of speed, which became his trademark.
“Freezing speed is a kind of photography I started very late,” he says. “The first 10 years, I did black and white without freezing speed because you can only do that with colour photography. I started with the zoom, when that was invented, to do freezing speed with a long exposure time – I paint with the colours of a racing car when it’s moving in front of me.”
The remarkable results of this experimental technique are showcased with some iconic images, including probably Schlegelmilch’s most famous photograph – of Stefan Johansson’s Ferrari at Monaco in 1985. And it’s not just this photo, with fine examples of the technique including beautiful shots of Stewart and Emerson Fittipaldi.
It’s impossible to differentiate between the parts of this documentary that showcase the era, and those that showcase Schlegelmilch. And that is perhaps the greatest testament to his work and career.
This is a documentary that offers different things to different viewers.
It’s well worth watching whether you are a student of motorsport photography, or just want to revel in the colours, texture and character of a lost age of motor racing. Rainer W Schlegelmilch: Freezing Speed premieres on Motorsport.tv at 2000 Saturday, and is also available on the Motorsport.tv website.