Following your passion and not a paycheck has the ability to land an individual in some incredible situations. This story began back in 2004 in northern France when a young Florent Gooden picked up his father’s old analog camera and headed along to a racetrack. Fulfilling his passion of immortalising motorsport moments in hundredths of a second would ultimately lead Florent to work on the world’s biggest motorsport stage — Formula One.
F1 is undoubtedly one of the world’s most photogenic sports; exotic locations and incredible cutting-edge technology is a recipe for eye-catching imagery, and those tasked with capturing it make it look effortless. So what exactly is it like being a professional, full-time motorsport photographer tasked with capturing all the action of Formula One, LeMans, Dakar and much much more? Recently, between editing photos and flying to his next Grand Prix, Florent took some time out to let you peek behind the curtain of a professional Formula One photographer’s life.
Thanks Florent for taking time to chat with us here at NZPC. How did you become involved in photography?
Hi team! No problem! This was by sheer coincidence as it happens! I was actually an F1 fan first, I brought an old analog camera of my father to a racetrack back in 2004. I just enjoyed taking photos, so I bought a small compact camera and started enjoying shooting
