The Machine In The Landscape – Österreichring – Austrian Grand Prix 1983
The Sublime is a complex concept involving the experience of something grand and awe inspiring that evokes the dual emotions of fear and attraction. The old Österreichring was an excellent example of this combination of terror and beauty. In 1985 I was standing with a group of experienced F1 photographers. At the restart of the race the tightly grouped pack of cars thundered though the turn and screamed up the hill weaving in and out of each other as they jockeyed for position within millimeters of disaster. The noise was deafening and the shock waves of the cars moving through the air pummeled us as we witnessed the drivers’ brilliant car control and precision racing. The moment seemed to stretch out in time and suddenly the pack of cars was gone and relative silence descended. Occasionally I saw something so spectacular in motor racing that my photographer’s brain shut off because I instinctively knew there was no way to put this experience into a picture. I looked around me to see the veterans equally stunned by what we had just seen. Almost everyone had put down there cameras like I did and just watched in amazement.
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