Leading Isle of Man photographer Hazel Walsh has an exciting project in store for the Manx Grand Prix. From Monday 29 August until Thursday 1 September she’ll be at the Market Hall in Douglas as part of MakeMarket: A Creative Industries Takeover, to take photographs and record the stories of visitors and riders for a book which will be available by Christmas.
‘MGP: Live to Ride’ will be a comprehensive photographic record of the passion and enthusiasm of riders and visitors to this annual event, and Hazel would like anyone with a story to tell to make their way to her pop-up studio in the Market Hall.
Hazel moved the Island as a child. Her parents had honeymooned at the TT and fell in love with the Isle of Man, eventually setting up a guest house in Douglas and the bikes, and bikers, were a big part of Hazel’s life, and her parents marshall at the TT and MGP to this day. As a young girl Hazel spent long days at the Bungalow rattling a bucket and raising money for St Johns Ambulance, and when she met her partner - who despite a serious bike accident two years ago, is determined to ride again - her interest in the racing was rekindled.
“Having lived, worked and partied through many TT and MGP festivals,” says Hazel, “it’s clear to me that it is the people who make the events: the riders and visitors who return year after year to be part of the greatest road racing in the world. Now, as a portrait photographer, I want to learn their stories and capture that passion.”
Anyone who’d like to be part of ‘MGP: Live to Ride’, can simply turn up at the Market Hall in Douglas between 29 August and 1 September, where Hazel will take their photograph and ask them to write out their stories and complete a model release form. “If there is a particular memento, piece of memorabilia or any other item which illustrates your passion for the racing, then bring it along – I can incorporate it into your portrait or even photograph it alone,” continues Hazel, “it’s your story I’m interested in – why you love the racing, why you return year after year, or even an incident or accident which affected you and which you’d like recorded.”
Hazel will release the final images on a dedicated website as the project develops, and ‘MGP: Live to Ride’ will be available to buy for Christmas 2016.
MakeMarket: A Creative Industries Takeover is a summer-long project at the Market Hall celebrating the vibrant yet often-overlooked creative industries economic sector. Hazel, and many like her, struggle to make a living from their own creative industry and the ‘MGP: Live to Ride’ project is a welcome distraction from Hazel’s day job in the financial sector. Photography is her passion, and just as riders and visitors are using their holidays to pursue their passion for the racing, she will be using her holidays, weekends and time outside work to put the final book together.
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