![]() The quality of Vincent’s book is superb, as the photography itself. The author’s portraits of the men (and women) who pursue the land speed records are engaging, and it is this human element makes this book one of the best photographic titles I have read. Vincent captures all of this in the most vivid way possible. There is scant text in this large format book, just landscape photography, and portraits of men, women, and their machines-a photographic tour of America’s saltiest raceway. And at least once a year, during Bonneville Speed Week, the salt flats are alive with thunder. Within his lens, Vincent photographs this barren place that was seemingly tailor-made for limits to be pushed, and records broken. Peter Vincent, probably the most experienced photographer of the Bonneville Salt Flats, visited this unique landscape for more than twentyyears, and The Bonneville Salt Flats: Two Decades of Photography is just a small selection of the author’s many thousands of images he captured over that time frame. Names such as Malcolm Campbell, Craig Breedlove, Chris Carr, Gary Gabolich, Bob Summers, John Cobb, and many others have challenged both physics, and themselves. Terminal speeds of 300, 400, 500, 600 mph-and beyond-have been attained. It was another couple of decades until the full potential of Bonneville was discovered, but ever since then, speed records in hundreds of different automotive, motorcycle, and propulsion classifications have fallen. He convinced daredevil Teddy Tetzlaff of the salt flat’s potential, and after several years, Tetzlaff became one of the early pioneers of speed trials. “Bill” Rishel recognized that the salt flats might have the makings for a good race course. The salt flats there in Utah stretch out over 30,000 acres, where racing and land speed records has been taking place since just shortly after the invention of the automobile. ![]() This place is Bonneville-also known as the fastest place on Earth. ![]() It is also so straight and level that one can see the curvature of the planet. There is a place that is so barren, salty, and inhospitable that almost no life exists. ![]()
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