Hawkstone Motocross Photography
Last weekend was a Bank Holiday so on Monday I paid my £5 to get into the AMCA (Amateur Motor Cycle Association) Classic and Scott National Championship event.
The weather was fantastic and I planned on taking some photos of the racers using my new Canon 6D full frame camera to see how it would cope and to learn the new ways of this 20.2 megapixel monster.
It started off as per usual with a few bikes warming up and taking the track slowly before they lined up on the start line to head out for their timed period of the race.
Taking a few snaps as I went around I was struggling with the sun burning out all the highlights in the shots so I had a wander a bit further around the track. Last time I came to Hawkstone for another event like this I took just short of 1000 photos and figured that this time I could dramatically reduce the amount I took by paying attention to the lighting, the background and the movement of the bikes on the track. All the lessons I’d picked up from the previous did help me, and I took just over 200 photos that I reduced down to a small number (61) but these wouldn’t make it to flickr or google+.
Course Commotion
As I was making my way around one part of the track there was an uphill with a step in the front face of the track that I thought might give some riders the chance to get some air before landing and then getting a clog on for the next part of the track. I walked to the crest of this and then noticed that there was a commotion on the track below, on the approach to this uphill, I stood to see what was occurring.
At this point I could now see that a rider had been ejected off their bike and was lying seemingly in the recovery position whilst a marshall and bystander were shielding him and a paramedic by holding the bike up in front of them and waving yellow flags at the riders who were still racing for points.
A moral dilemma then occurred when I found that I was debating to myself whether I should take a photo of the scene that was in my vista.
Should I take a photo of the medical staff treating the casualty? Should I not, to show some compassion or respect?
As I stood there watching the other riders speeding past in their quest to better their positions, splattering the paramedics with dirt I made a decision to take a couple of photos. My conscience told me that this event was part of the whole experience that I would remember on this day and that it would cause no further harm to the injured rider if I did take a photo.
Bang Bang Club
Not that I’m comparing myself to Kevin Carter, but when he took the photo of the starving child being stalked by a vulture*, I’m sure that he had a conversation with himself as to whether it was a decent thing to do. In his instance the photo would go on to educate the developed world of the needs of the developing world. Similarly, the photo by Nick Ut of 9 year old Phan Thị Kim Phúc burning after a Napalm attack in Vietnam, went on to demonstrate to the world the horrors of war.
* I am aware of the controversy around Carter’s photo, with some speculation it was staged.
Now I know that my photo of an injured motocross rider isn’t going to persuade anyone that riding MX bikes is a bad idea and won’t have any impact on social acceptability of racing dirt bikes but to me it was an event that occurred during my time at trackside and if I didn’t take the photo it wouldn’t be a true representation of what I’d seen.
Oblivious Riders
If I was having pangs of guilt from taking a picture, I’ve got no idea of how the rest of the riders were continuing unaffected. It could be that someone had died, a previous tragic fatality in 2005 proves that it can happen, but these racers carried on as though it was just another obstacle to be ridden around. Surely in their minds they must have been thinking that it could be them at some point in time, or do they have the same mentality that you hear WWII fighter pilots had when they described that “it couldn’t possibly happen to me”.
So I took two photos of the casualty as he was lying on the track and then as he was rolled into the stretcher for his short, but painful, journey to the Air Ambulance that was landing in the field by the car park.
Even as he was sucking up analgesic gas and being carried off the course, the other riders continued. I was really surprised that the medics and marshals were kept in harm’s way while the race proceeded and that they hadn’t called it to an early end.
The rest of the time I was there I saw no other accidents and know that the organisers of these events treat safety as a high priority, as do all the spectators and riders. It’s always a nice day out and the thrill of seeing these brave riders leap into the air, let go of the handlebars, rip off a goggle lens cover, and then hands back on the bars before landing is outstanding!
Following an article in the local newspaper, it unfortunately appears that the rider,in his 20’s, may have fractured and dislocated his hip and was taken to the major trauma unit at Royal Stoke hospital by the air ambulance. I don’t know who the rider is, but I wish him well and hope that he has a speedy recovery.
Moral or Immoral?
Am I cold hearted or interested in documenting the events of my day?
What would you have done? Taken the picture or not?
Feel free to leave me a comment….
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