(cont'd) The Art of Black and White

"This is one of the first negatives that I developed myself, from one of my first times out, in 1965. What makes it a classic are the Lions sign and how close the people are. I used to sit in the front row before I started taking pictures, literally five feet from the cars. Plus, Billy Scott is smoking the tires and lifting the wheels, which to me is the perfect image of '60s drag racing."

A rare exception to the above scenarios is a former Lions, Irwindale and Orange County track-photographer named Jere Alhadeff. When Connie Strawbridge and I conceived the Hot Rod Nostalgia magalog, we'd hoped to offer the handmade prints of many photographers. Not until preparing the second edition did we finally locate someone who was ready, willing and able to do so. From his approximately 12,000 individual B&W negatives, Jere (pronounced "JAIR") sent us a selection of images suitable for enlarging all the way up to 16x20-inch, pearl-finished posters. Happily, it turns out that nostalgia lovers and serious collectors in Europe, Australia and North America share our enthusiasm for and appreciation of a photograph that is individually printed by the very person who squeezed the trigger three decades earlier. That's why so many pages of this magalog are devoted to "Photos By Jere".

Alhadeff became acquainted with photography accidentally, while writing for his high-school newspaper in the early Sixties. "I joined the staff mainly to hang out with all the girls who worked on the paper," he recalled. "The instructor finally gave me a camera to keep me out of the room, so the girls could get the work done."

"Jenkins versus Sox in the first NHRA Pro Stock final, 1970 Winternationals. They were the two biggest names of that era, and the final came down to them."

After graduating in 1964, Alhadeff missed the publishing experience, and determined to combine his passions for photography and drag racing. A friend put him in touch with the publisher of Hot Rod Parts Illustrated, who arranged for a one-time trial at Lions Drag Strip. Jere's only camera was a twin-lens Yashica with a viewfinder — through which the subjects appeared to be moving backwards, making it extremely difficult to follow any action. Nonetheless, the publisher was pleased with the results, and continued arranging credentials at Lions and elsewhere in exchange for Jere's exposed film. In 1965 or '66, Alhadeff was offered the prestigious track-photographer's position by Lions PR man Ralph Guldahl. He was paid $35 a week for delivering five B&W prints each to Drag News and National Dragster by Monday night.

"Ron Lahr had just started, too," Jere recalled. "We became friends, helping each other. Lahr is an extremely gifted photographer. I always felt like I had to really work to keep up with him. He has a natural feel for what to do; I was the one going to school, going for a degree in photography, trying to learn tricks. We always had the ability to criticize each other, and take criticism, and make fun of each other, and congratulate each other. I still have that approach to photography: When I look at a picture, I first look at it as a photograph, and how much I like it — then I think about who took it. It doesnt matter who took it; I can congratulate the photographer.

"This had to be 1965 or '66. I really hadn't even planned on shooting a picture, but I was standing there on the starting line with my friend, Ron Lahr, and we always had these contests as to who could take the best picture. We got into one of our friendly arguments, and Ron said, 'Okay, let's prove it. Let's go ahead and both take a picture of this car, and whoever comes out best will win.' My photo has all the oil and all the flame, but Ron's photo was taken just a split-second later. There's no fire in his, but the oil isn't there, either; you can see the whole crank, you can see the whole motor — and my head is in the bottom-right-hand corner! This won a photo contest in Hot Rod magazine, which paid $75. That was two months' rent at the time: My rent was $37.50 for half of our house in Newport Beach. It's funny now, because a lot of people look at this picture and say, 'Do you have the other one; the one where you can see the crank and everything?' So I never get to forget Ron. He said he thought I was the winner, and I said I thought he was the winner."

"Lahr had a darkroom in his house, so we would shoot Lions every Saturday night, then go back to his house, develop film late that night, then go to Irwindale Sunday, come back, and I'd print until the wee hours at his place. Then I'd drive home, so I could go to school the next morning. On Monday evening, I'd drive to L.A. and deliver the pictures. I used that money from Lions to buy my own darkroom equipment. Later on, in '67 or so, National Dragster paid $15 to the winner of its Photo-of-the-Week contest. In 10 or 12 weeks, I won it three or four times. My rent at the time was $37.50, so winning a contest paid almost two weeks' rent."

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