Jad Sherif
Geneva, Switzerland

www.Wri2.net

Jad Sherif was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1957. Having lived and studied principally in England, Switzerland, and the USA, he completed a BA in Photography before starting his career as a freelance photographer in 1979.

In 1981, a chance meeting with an established Formula 1 journalist oriented his life rapidly to photographing motor racing, covering Formula One Grands Prix, the Endurance Sports car series including Les 24 Heures du Mans, Desert Rallies such as the Paris-Dakar, and 500cc motorcycle Grands Prix.

He created his photographic agency, Pan Images, in 1992 with his motor racing archives, collected from several sources, dating back to the mid 70’s. Since 2003 he formed an association with several other motor racing photographers distributing their work via the Internet platform www.Wri2.net.

With nearly 500 F1 Grands Prix covered, Jad has had the privilege of working with such greats as Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and more recently with Michael Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve and Sebastian Vettel.

Having missed Les 24 Heures du Mans since the early 90's due to the customary June date clashing with the Canadian F1 GP, Jad Sherif returned with great pleasure to cover the event in 2008 for Rolex. Aside from a few changes, he notes that the 24-hour race has maintained its great tradition, atmosphere and enthusiasm.

In addition to supplying photos for specialised motor racing print and Internet media, calendars, posters, agendas, sponsors and teams, Jad Sherif has produced in-house photographic Formula One Yearbooks since 2004 destined for clients and drivers.

Always in search of perfection and new technologies, Jad regularly works with Canon brand Ambassadors to improve future systems, cameras and lenses.
Stephan Cooper
Los Angeles, California, USA

www.stephancooper.com

Born and educated in Switzerland, Stephan’s passion for photography developed through a long, circuitous route that has taken him around the globe. Life led Stephan in the early 1970’s to South Africa and his career began with portraiture, weddings and automotive photography, both in the studio and on location.

By the late 1980’s Stephan decided to move to Los Angeles, California to further his career in automotive photography. His passion for cars led to him being highly sought-after for automotive accounts in advertising. Working primarily with advertising agencies and design studios, Stephan has won numerous awards, the most recent of which is the prestigious “California on Location Award” in 2005.

Shooting for national and international manufacturers gave Stephan the opportunity to travel the world, and a brief summary of his clients in this domain includes Ford, General Motors, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz and Toyota among others.

A few years ago Stephan began working in the world of motorsports with Les 24 Heures du Mans, and he has been working in the field ever since, covering events for Rolex such as The Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and endurance races in the World Endurance Championship. “I want to share an emotion with my viewers,” says Stephan, “and to capture raw speed is awesome. I’ve come to the point where I want to be looking at less.” Stephan uses the latest technology and CGI, in addition to digital and traditional film. He has extensive experience in digital postproduction and printing, and his knowledge of studio and location lighting is a great technical asset.

In addition to his know-how, Stephan’s calm disposition and positive attitude make him easy to work with. Stephan is organised and his energy and insight help inspire fresh project results and a creative approach, regardless of the task at hand. While always looking forward to emerging himself in the next racing event, Stephan also shoots lifestyle, people and food in his studio in between his travels.



Tom G. O’Neal
Monterey, California, USA

www.tgoportfolio.com

To photograph a car on the raceway, you need to see it as if it were still, but shoot it as if you’re on speed. Tom O’Neal has always had a keen sense of timing. Never a professional racecar driver, he has no trouble keeping up with those who are.

The artist grew up in Southern California, in a time and place where everybody had a fast car with a big engine, and the torn up knuckles and grit under their nails to prove it. Having developed an early passion for cars and speed, O’Neal got under the hood at age 6 and into the driver’s seat at 14. Drag racing led to road racing on the amateur circuit, moving from a Super Stock Chevy to an MGA Mark II.

On the racecourse today, he’s shifted his focus to shutter speed. After a career photographing over 60 rock and roll album covers and groups, Tom still has a penchant for things that move, and his finger on the trigger of a camera poised to keep up with the action.

From photographing the mercurial moves of Mick Jagger on stage, to the precision of a PGA golf swing, to racecar drivers who become blurred in the turn, O’Neal is a time binder, making moments stand still. He has captured cars at top speeds on Daytona International Speedway during the Rolex 24 At Daytona; a 24-hour competition among the world’s most fast and furious drivers. For more than a decade, he has shot the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion races at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

“I think of the moment,” O’Neal said, “when the car slips into the pit for a matter of seconds; the crew flies into this carefully choreographed blur of activity, the adrenaline is racing as fast as the engine, and then this thing rips by you and roars off, and you know you just got the picture. It’s all about the intensity and the action.”

For the past 25 years, O’Neal has photographed exceptional vintage automobiles. And, in 2000, he captured the substance and form, the elegance and energy of the automobile for a significant contribution to a commemorative book in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

O’Neal has always felt that intuition and timing are the most important elements in his work. Combined with a keen eye for the image, a passion for what he does, and the fastest trigger finger in the business, he still does.