Speed and standstill

Her grandmother is in her mid-eighties, yet she still sets her alarm clock to ensure she doesn’t miss even one race. Lisa Boos reckons that in the Eifel everyone’s a bit HP crazy. Her pictures mix action and “behind the scenes”: they speak of speed, fast cars, pit stops and the drivers preparing themselves for the races.

LFI: What is it about motor sports that fascinates you, and where does the fascination come from?
Lisa Boos: I’m a real child of the Eifel region – in other words, I more or less grew up at the most beautiful auto racing track in the world. As a small girl, I really was allowed to go to every motor sports event: from Truck Grand Prix, DTM (German Touring Car Masters) and 24H Races, all the way to Formula 1. The thing I find fascinating about motor sports is the adrenalin that reigns at every race; the fire, the fighting spirit, the passion. You never know what will happen! In motor sports, seconds can cost a lot; seconds decide everything. You also have to understand this when taking photographs: it can happen that one or more 240 HP racing cars slam into the pile of tyres behind which you’re sitting with the camera – that’s what happened to me…

How can you capture the “thrill” of motor sports in photographs?
Of course, above all, it’s all about speed – on and off the track – and that’s not always easy to capture. That’s why it’s good if a picture has movement – whether it’s a car that tears by you, or whether it’s the speed of a change of driver. On the other hand, there’s the standstill that you also want to capture: a powerful GT3 car slumbering in the darkened pit stop; a helmet on a shelf, waiting for its next assignment. For me, apart from the “fight for pole position”, apart from the loud engines and the hectic, my pictures deal mainly with respect – respect for the teams, and for the coordinated cooperation that prevails in the teams.

How was your experience with the camera?
In fact, this year the Leica Q2 has been with me to nearly every race. I love that it’s a compact little camera that can do everything; and that I can use it everywhere to capture emotional and “behind the scenes” impressions. Track pictures are also possible at times. That’s cool! It’s not heavy. It’s handy and stable, and the quality of the pictures is simply amazing. Motor sports photography is a whole other world and, if you have a Leica at your side, you can reproduce a glimpse into that other world in a very specific way.

What do motor sports and photography have in common?
For a start, all kinds of emotions for sure. Also, the requirement to have the ability to be attentive, and to do the right thing in that one important second.