The Grid Girls
The Grid Girls
Lara Platman
May 4, 2016
Snazzy old-timers, classy styling: every September, the Earl of March and Kinrara hosts an action-packed, motor-sports spectacle on his country estate in Goodwood. British photographer Lara Platman is regularly among those circulating at the Goodwood Revival.
“The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September since 1998 at the Goodwood Circuit. It hosts the types of road racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit’s original era from 1948 to 1966.
I have made all of them except the second one; but, luckily it rained so much I didn’t miss anything. Revival is a photographers dream, and for a photographer nothing could be better than to peruse the cars and the people – both equally beautifully dressed. The Leica camera with its classic design also looks perfect in this environment. The year this photo was taken, there was a celebration of the bubble car at Goodwood Revival. These ladies are the grid girls who line the starting grid at the beginning of every race. They parade the Revival car parks and we were able to grab a shot with them around the bubble car. The weather worked a treat too.
My passion with cars started when Country Life magazine sent me to the Goodwood Revival on a commission for the theatre, for the atmosphere of the event – as seen here in this photo. However, when I saw all the historic racing cars, that was it: I was hooked. Already a fan of classic cars, I immediately became interested in the women who raced and the historical women of the 1920s and 30s. I started to research them – oh about five or six years ago – and, to this day, I’m writing about one specific woman called the Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce. She won the Coupe de Dames at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1927, then went on to race the Swedish Rally. Next she drove 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, tested the Bentley Blower for the Bentley boys, then bought a fold up plane and flew solo round the word. So, this photo, I suppose, was the start of my adventure.“
The Goodwood Revival takes place this year from 9 to 11 September. See the portfolio by Charles March and a feature by Mary McCartnes and Ted Dwayne on the Goodwood Revival in LFI 1/2015.
“The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September since 1998 at the Goodwood Circuit. It hosts the types of road racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit’s original era from 1948 to 1966.
I have made all of them except the second one; but, luckily it rained so much I didn’t miss anything. Revival is a photographers dream, and for a photographer nothing could be better than to peruse the cars and the people – both equally beautifully dressed. The Leica camera with its classic design also looks perfect in this environment. The year this photo was taken, there was a celebration of the bubble car at Goodwood Revival. These ladies are the grid girls who line the starting grid at the beginning of every race. They parade the Revival car parks and we were able to grab a shot with them around the bubble car. The weather worked a treat too.
My passion with cars started when Country Life magazine sent me to the Goodwood Revival on a commission for the theatre, for the atmosphere of the event – as seen here in this photo. However, when I saw all the historic racing cars, that was it: I was hooked. Already a fan of classic cars, I immediately became interested in the women who raced and the historical women of the 1920s and 30s. I started to research them – oh about five or six years ago – and, to this day, I’m writing about one specific woman called the Honourable Mrs Victor Bruce. She won the Coupe de Dames at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1927, then went on to race the Swedish Rally. Next she drove 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, tested the Bentley Blower for the Bentley boys, then bought a fold up plane and flew solo round the word. So, this photo, I suppose, was the start of my adventure.“
The Goodwood Revival takes place this year from 9 to 11 September. See the portfolio by Charles March and a feature by Mary McCartnes and Ted Dwayne on the Goodwood Revival in LFI 1/2015.
Lara Platman+-
British author and photographer Lara Platman writes regularly for the Huffington Post, Classic Car Weekly and other photo and lifestyle publications. She has already published four photo books (Spirit of Place, 2015; Through The Night, 2014; Harris Tweed, 2011; Art Workers Guild 125 Years, 2009). Her photographs are found in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among others. Platman is an ambassador for the Leica brand, and lives and works in Blockley. More