Indira Flack Photography About 2026
One of the greatest joys of
being a photographer is the people you meet
For over 30 years, I've worked as a professional editorial portrait photographer, primarily for magazines, including a brief but exhilarating foray into motorsport at Goodwood Festival of Speed in the 1990s. Along the way I’ve had the privilege of photographing an extraordinary cross-section of society: actors and vicars, lollipop ladies and politicians, Mary Quant and Mary Berry. I’ve met murderers, a Great Train Robber, a former spy, Olympic gold medallists, childhood heroes and now, more than 100 Great British Racing Drivers.
Everything happens for reason.
“Why don’t you swop to photography”...... was the most important sentence any of my tutors ever said to me.
Fabric design and I were clearly not meant to be. Undeterred by failing my fabric printing O-level, I persisted with it at foundation, only to miss out on my first-choice degree and see my application form vanish into postbox heaven. Clearing rescued me, sending me to North Staffordshire Polytechnic, where I fell in love with photography and abandoned fabric printing without a backward glance.
Fast-forward to 2014. A decision to return to Goodwood, combined with a slight mishap involving a bicycle, the A24 and a lady in a 4x4, led to the creation of the Great British Racing Drivers (GBRD) project. Lying face-down in the road, battered and bruised, I had no idea this moment would spark the most exciting and rewarding project of my career.
It was clear I needed something new to focus on. My partner Paul, also a photographer, suggested racing drivers would make excellent subjects and with Goodwood full of motorsport legends, it would be the perfect place to talk to them. A previous Country Life commission, The Great British Hobby, inspired the title and Great British Racing Drivers was born. The first sitters ? Sir Stirling Moss OBE “the greatest driver never to win the F1 World Championship” and John Surtees CBE, the only man to win world championships on both two and four wheels. Followed by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, three-time F1 World Champion. So not a bad start.
Between 2014 and 2023 I photographed 136 drivers, enduring all four seasons, often in the same afternoon. I’ve been frozen, boiled, covered in dirt, locked in Paddy Hopkirk’s loo and leaned on by Nigel Mansell. I’ve sat in a Le Mans winning Aston Martin and on the podium at Silverstone with three former F1 drivers looming over me wielding microphones. I’ve survived boisterous puppies, wayward dogs, riding bareback on an enormous horse and some very bad dad jokes. I’ve spent hours in Blue Peter corner creating an oil drip for Abbie Eaton, had “Happy Birthday” played to me on the piano by the original Stig and eaten pizza with Jason Plato — twice.
Among the laughter and endless cups of tea, the greatest joy has been the extraordinary, generous and truly unforgettable people.
Take a look at GBRD