GT Karting is a followup documentary project of Exploratory Photographic Practice. The photograph captured racing preparation or maintenance behind the scenes. The idea came from my early age, as I remember I used to sleep in the garage every weekend after I finished my school on the Friday. My dad is a car mechanic. He fixes body work with high performance vehicles for Mercedes-Benz in Malaysia. The smell of engine oil and the noise of hammering always brings up my young memory. Often, I take things apart and study the structure inside. I have been inspired by the car parts and mechanics about how they work.
Previously, I have covered behind the scenes for Aether & Hemera (Light Night Leeds - Voyage). It is about an art installation. The photo depicted people involved with their artworks. In this project, I am targeted on motor racing. I have studied some racing photographers. Vladimir Rys - F1 photographer commissioning by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. Larry Chen - racing photojournalist from Speedhunters magazine and Hoonigan, passionate in drift racing photography. Both photographs have good use of negative space, colour and shallow depth of field. As a result, I would like to try these ideas and Aether & Hemera - Voyage together into this project.
So, where to start? The kart racing is the starting point for me, due to the fact that the scale of karting is much smaller and closer to interacting with. It is relatively easy to handle the shoot compared to other big racing circuits or speedways. In addition, karting is also a starting point for many young racers, it is where their racing dream begins too. Therefore, I am applying the same analogy to begin this project.
