From the XNUMXs onwards, motorcycles started to look a bit like motorcycles. And the motorcycle magazines also became more serious. Especially in – of course – England. Instead of texts and drawings, there were road tests and photos. But in a way that we now find endearing at best. That photo work – on a kind of newspaper – was of course black and white. For the driving photos, the shutter speeds were measured with a calendar and there was not much dynamism. But the portrait and detail photos? There was a lot of work involved. Firstly, a neutral background was considered.
Before that, photographs were usually taken with a white piece of tarpaulin that was hung loosely behind the engine. This is how the photo model became 'free-standing'. It became a step further and more professional by using the white brush. Everything that did not need to be seen was painted white and that must have been a lot of work to make the spoke wheels 'transparent'. We found 'our' photos in our archive. They are in Roadtests Repulished volume 1 (1930-1940), published by Motor Cycle. We read tests of the once famous brands plus those of forgotten brands such as SOS, Ivory, Coventry Eagle.
And those are nice texts that express a completely different motorcycle experience than that of today. But it's the photos that make that most clear. Because a motorcycle magazine photo session today can easily mean half or a whole day of digital photography, followed by another day of photo editing with the most current digital software, expensive software. And that such a professional photographer charges € 400 per half day for this? That won't even make him rich. And he is often away from home for days on end.
By the way, our photos are not taken by those types of people. They would make the largest and cheapest classic magazine in the Dutch-speaking area too expensive. By the way, do you already have a dirt-cheap subscription to AMK or are you purchasing separately? Do yourself and us a favor: subscribe now!
thanks in advance
