Harry Gruyaert Tour de France. France. 1982.
“In 1982, I was commissioned by Elf Aquitaine, the oil company that was sponsoring Bernard Hinault, to cover the Tour de France. Although I was not a fan of the highl
(...) y macho environment, it was a very exciting experience. I remember sitting on the back of a motorbike, shooting footage with no autofocus (this was 1982), as we were riding downhill at 100km/h following the cyclists. The bike allowed me to get o? whenever I wanted to. More than the race itself, it was the people watching that really interested me. Most of them had been waiting by the roadside for more than 24 hours just to see the Tour passing by for hardly ?ve minutes. They had come with family, tents, and food. Looking at them as they sat there was like looking into their living room.
In 2016, Thames and Hudson published a Magnum cycling book (Magnum Cycling, Thames & Hudson, 2016) and I discovered that several Magnum photographers had followed the Tour at di?erent times, starting with Robert Capa in 1939. Looking at their work, I felt proud to be a member of Magnum.”
— Harry Gruyaert © Harry Gruyaert | Magnum Photos
