Grandmaster, Anatoly Karpov, once quipped, “Chess is everything: art, science, and sport.” Arguably this statement could be applied to many other pursuits, although its perfect fit with speedway is inescapable. The best vantage point to appreciate all three facets of this statement is trackside, but close on the heels of being part of the live action are the images, either captured on video, or photograph. The latter medium better catches those split-second moments that in the adrenalin charged motion of the two-wheeled sport can easily be lost to the naked eye. This unique perspective allows the viewer to contemplate those moments where time literally appears to slow down for the participants. Speaking recently to Scott Nicholls he referenced this riddle by reflecting upon a series of high-octane crashes where he suggested that the laws of physics are momentarily suspended, allowing a clarity of thought to be processed about the impending doom before reality kicks in ─ heralded by a spin dryer sequence of sky, track, sky, track, sky, track, before hitting the safety fence.
Sometimes these moments of sporting drama become iconic portraits of fate. Although speedway has many examples to choose from, one of my personal favourites is the late Kenny Carter and John Davis coming together in heat six of the 1985 Intercontinental Final in Vetlanda, Sweden. Spectacularly snapped by Mike Patrick, it brilliantly fuses elegance and ensuing catastrophe, as Andy Smith treads a precarious path in the background.
Armed with my trusty iPhone camera, I have often sought to grab a moment of photographic fame, but other than inadvertently capturing a photobombing bird, my efforts are pretty much mundane and forgetful. Professional photographers tend to get it right and I was certain that, although luck may play its part, such genius is more than simply being in the right place at the right time. Turning to the talents of Taylor Lanning, I entered a fascinating world of creativity, compassion, and critical thinking.
Taylor has been a permanent fixture on both domestic and international fronts for several years, but it is worth reflecting that he is only 21 years old; so where did this rapid acceleration to the first bend begin?
“The inspiration came from my grandparents who bought me a Canon camera for Christmas in 2012. My dad – who had started out in journalism as a speedway photographer at Eastbourne under the watchful eye of Alf Weedon when he was 13 ─ noticed that I took loads of images on my iPod when I was about 9 years old.”
Taylor’s professional breakthrough occurred in the most bizarre circumstances when he snapped Tai Woffinden racing a gutsy four by four gas guzzling car driven by Taylor’s dad (I suggest you read that previous sentence again!). “The first speedway pictures I took were of Tai Woffinden at Leicester in October 2013 when my dad did a story about him for The Sun newspaper after he’d won the World Championship. Tai was racing his bike against the Range Rover around Leicester with a broken collarbone! I loved it and from that moment I wanted to do it more.”
His chosen vocation became reality a couple of years later when the Facenna promotion took over at Glasgow. Although only 13, with public liability insurance in place, he was a regular snapper. Taylor was also quick to praise Great Britain bosses Rob Painter and Vicky Blackwell who appointed him as the official photographer in 2019, giving him the faith to take it up as a career.
I was keen to drill down to the technicalities of Taylor’s trade, and although my own prowess consisted of no more than point and click, I suspected that his equipment haul was somewhat more impressive. “A lot in two cases: Canon R6, Canon 1DX, 1 x 70-200mm lens, 1 x 300mm lens, 1 x 16-35mm lens, flash, laptop, 8 SD cards, and powerpacks.”
A typical shoot commences at least 90 minutes before the meeting starts, in order to capture the calm before the storm, often epitomised by the meticulous track walk ─ a moment of relative tranquillity that is in stark contradiction to the action ahead, and where Taylor can capture a different type of mood music. But can the chances of capturing the front cover shot be enhanced? What’s the secret to getting that prize picture that goes viral? Taylor expertly managed my excitable expectations and gently eased me back into the real world: “There’s no real answer; you never know when the prize shot will happen. In sport, I guess it’s about being alert at all times. It’s something I have had to learn to do over the years, never switch off, and constantly be aware of what’s going on around you. With pit stuff I try to stay stealth-like. You get the best mood shots when riders aren’t aware you are taking them. With racing, I have set places I stand and move to from race to race to get a variety of imagery, and to second guess where the best shots will be. If it’s a big or close meeting, I make sure I’m in the right place to get celebration shots near the pits. In certain races it’s purely down to instinct.” I was impressed with Taylor’s pragmatic take on his profession which is ultimately judged by the handful of images that excite our emotions.
Bringing the conversation back to the domestic scene, I was curious to discover which is the best speedway venue for a trackside photographer, believing that it was probably about the best vantage point; but, as Taylor explained, it’s all about the light: “Belle Vue and Poole are my favourites. I judge most tracks by how good the lights are. Light is the greatest commodity in speedway photography. Trying to shoot speedway when you are pushing every setting to the limit just to get enough light into the camera is hard and incredibly frustrating if you get a great shot, but you can’t save the image.”
Since I like to snap away at the most random things on my iPhone I wondered if my average of just shy of 2,500 photographs per annum was excessive. Taylor put this personal tally into perspective. “I take about 2,000 in a normal meeting; I always try lots of different ideas. A Grand Prix weekend, including practice, fan zone, and meeting, will be over 5,000. I will edit in total around 150 per meeting; but then I will go back to the RAW (digital image) files for publication at a later stage. To have a huge library of images for hundreds of riders helps me earn from them at a later stage. I keep every single image I take.”
In addition to the illustrious Speedway Star, Taylor modestly listed his other notable conquests: “The Sun, The Mirror, Daily Star, Express, Guardian, SGP programmes. I work for Speedway GP and British Speedway Network, but that’s mainly online publication.” Pushing my curiosity, I asked Taylor if it pays well. As ever respectful to my prying he replied, “Not really in speedway. I’ve had to work really hard to make it pay at all when you factor in the cost of travel and hotels. I’ve been lucky to have good contacts to make it workable and a brilliant sponsor in ATPI.”
In my introduction to this piece, I narrowed down a personal favourite of mine, but does Taylor have his own Mona Lisa? As ever thoughtful and reflective, he paused for a moment and elegantly summed it up, “That’s such a hard question. I still think an image I took of Tai Woffinden walking across a bridge at his old farmhouse in 2018 is my favourite. I edited it in black and white and I just like how it combines a cool speedway look with something you could put up on your wall; however, I have so many favourites: Willie Borland’s debut nine-darter celebration at the World Championship, and more recently Luke Humphries sinking to his knees after winning the World title. Others from speedway include Dan Bewley getting the bumps after winning the British Final in 2022, and Jason Doyle leading in the World Cup at Wroclaw last season.” And what of my assertion, “speedway is everything: art, science, and sport”? Which of Taylor’s pieces of art would illustrate each aspect?
“Tai Woffinden at his farmhouse would be art. I love the artistic element of sport photography more than anything. Science? I’m always fascinated by the back tyre flex in a corner. Tai’s crash at Cardiff last year was caused by his back tyre digging into a rut, the sequence I got illustrates how that incident happened, you see his tyre lose shape and throw his bike up in the air; also, the essence, or capturing the speed in an image where the background is completely blurred with the rider totally sharp. That sums up speedway perfectly like no other. The sport element is the emotion; Bartosz winning in Gorzow with his arms aloft. The total joy of him and the fans, I love an image that captures so much emotion.”
Away from the track Taylor has an equally impressive portfolio: “I’m also a full-time photographer in darts. I’ve just done the World Championship at the Alexandra Palace as official photographer for the Professional Darts Corporation, which was epic. I’ve never worked on an event with so much media attention ─ caused by Luke Littler. It’s a very similar approach to speedway. It’s just capturing emotion with darts ─ agony and ecstasy images. With life-changing money at stake there’s so much emotion. Plus, getting paparazzi shots of celebrities like James Maddison, Peter Crouch, Chris Stark, and Romeo Beckham.” Having personally been caught up in the Luke Littler phenomenon, I was interested to know how Taylor felt when he captured a classic shot? Without missing a professional beat, he remained grounded, “The only thing I think about is how quickly I can get it out to the people who are paying me to shoot for them. It’s all about the time frame to get it edited and hoping the Wi-Fi is strong enough to send it. The quicker they go online for SpeedwayGP, Speedway Star, or BSN; or PDC or Oche180 in darts, the bigger impact they have.”
In bringing our fascinating chat to a conclusion, I sought to establish who inspired Taylor and what his professional ambitions are. “Marc Aspland, Chief Sports Photographer for The Times newspaper. His imagery is on a different planet, it’s a constant inspiration for me. We met at the Grand Slam of Darts a few years ago when I was 17, and his words and interest in my work meant a great deal. Lawrence Lustig mentored me and helped me so much; his darts and boxing images are incredible. Likewise, Clive Mason in Formula One, Dickie Pelham in football, and Jeff Davies in speedway. They are all different levels and always set the bar higher in standards and thought processes.” The immediate future looks exciting too, “I’ve already been in talks about Formula One opportunities with a couple of teams for the future; that’s my biggest ambition, along with MotoGP ─ but I’d love to be able to make a proper income from speedway so I could commit more time to it.”
And before he went, and on behalf of me and every other budding photographer what should we do? Taylor’s sage advice: “Take lots of pictures of lots of multiple subjects; don’t be afraid to be creative and try different styles. Also try and specialise in something, and don’t let anyone tell you that you are not good enough.”
I would thoroughly recommend that you keep tabs on this rising star via his social media: Facebook, Taylor Lanning Photography; X, @taylanningpix; and Insta, _taylorlanningphotography_
© Ian Kirke 2024
All non-credited phototrophs reproduced by kind permission of Taylor Lanning
@ianjkirke