Latest picture on my screen saver: 'S' like Simonsen

24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013-06-22.

With the drama that occurred early in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, I must admit that it was out of the question for me to keep shooting aimlessly at cars. I had to try and make a sense of this all, or at least pay a modest homage to Allan using my usual communication tool: photography. Hence, getting out of the media center to shoot the evening hours of the race, I knew exactly the photo I was looking for.

That particular photo would need quite a few elements. For one thing, I was keen on crafting that shot in the last few curves that Allan had the chance to negotiate before the 'end' - those fast and sweeping curves before Tertre Rouge were so obvious to me. Also, in my mind, it was important to shoot that photo not in total darkness, but in the evening hours, right before dusk. I still wanted to see those heavy clouds, but also a little bit of this festive ambiance typical of Le Mans, at a distance. That touch of festive ambiance was for me symbolic of hope and life, despite the menacing clouds over us all.

Finally, and most important, I wanted to have a huge, giant 'S' in the photo (even an inverted one). A massive 'S' made of light, painted collectively by all his racing comrades. In my mind, this would represent a homage they would all pay to him - without them knowing it.

That 'S' of light and life was what I wanted more, and what I got.

For more of my pictures from the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, click here.

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