Porsche Type 804 Formula 1, Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany, 1962
"Maybe a minute or two before I took the picture, I saw what was happening there and knew what I wanted to capture. That's what I meant about previsualizing things, to think ahead of time. I puposely went into the crowd and got into a position where I could get the car connected to the people."
In the wake of World War II, a golden age of motor sports emerged in Europe, pitting competing countries against each other on the racetrack instead of the battlefield. A young photographer at the time, Jesse Alexander followed "the circus" and captured on film the adventure, glamour and innocence of this influential period in racing. In one image, Phil Hill waves after winning the 1960 Italian Grand Prix in his Ferrari; in another, Piero Taruffi celebrates his 1957 victory at the Mille Miglia in Brescia, Italy. Since then, Jesse Alexander has remained one of the most acclaimed and commercially successful racecar photographers in the history of the sport.