Education/Inspiration
Memories of Speed
By Jerry Currier
Oct 1, 2006

Henry, the Bill Shipler darkroom manager at work in his underground.

My article, “Remembering Ammon Hennacy” (in the July 2006 issue of Double Exposure) mentions the discovery of an old trunk that contained a number of boxes of my negatives, slides and prints from the 1950s and 1960s.

Upon discharge from the USAF in 1959, I found myself in Salt Lake City, Utah. I tried freelancing for a time and eventually found work as a darkroom technician and photographer for a number of commercial studios. One of these was Bill Shipler Photography.

My first position with this firm was in the photofinishing darkroom where retail customer snapshot film was processed and printed. Shipler's main store and studio location was on the west side of Main Street and the photofinishing lab was in the basement of another building across the street. It was an interesting place to work, rich in the odor of photographic chemicals. The general mood was dark and depressing. At least one of the walls was hard-packed soil!

The man in charge of this operation was an experienced darkroom technician who had worked for Shipler many years. I recall that his first name was Henry but his last name escapes my memory. Henry was a perfectionist in his views of things photographic and a bit set in his views about sartorial correctness. He always wore a white shirt and tie, even in the darkroom and I suspect was highly disapproving of the “casual” dress of the 1960s. However, even though I had several years of darkroom experience in the Air Force and another Salt Lake City photo studio, Henry's perfectionist views caused me to sharpen my skills to avoid his waspish tongue when I did something to ensure his disapproval.

Mickey Thompson's car. This image was created from a 4” x 5” color transparency. It was projected onto another piece of color film and the easel was moved during exposure to create the sense of speed. Used extensively in Champion Sparkplug Company ads featured in such magazines as Saturday Evening Post, Reader’s Digest, Road & Track and numerous other publications.

Shipler's business was multifaceted. The main store was a retail photographic equipment outlet and there was a thriving commercial photography practice as well. In addition to my photofinishing work, I was often drafted for commercial photo shoots that other staff photographers were too busy for or didn't want to do--“challenging” work such as photographing award presentations and advertising product pictures (shoes, electric skillets, etc.).

In the summer of 1960 Shipler had contracts with Good Year Tire and Champion Sparkplug to photograph Mickey Thompson's World Land Speed Record attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Coincidentally, Craig Breedlove, Athol Graham and Donald Campbell were also at Bonneville for the same reason.

Initially, the 120-mile journey from Salt Lake City to Wendover, Utah was by automobile. Most of the cameras and equipment needed were loaded into a couple of station wagons. Rooms were rented at one of the motels in Wendover, then a sleepy desert town literally right on the Utah/Nevada border. One building housed a restaurant and bar where the restaurant was on the Utah side (Utah is a “dry” state) and the bar was in Nevada. It was illegal to buy a drink in the bar and carry it across the room into the restaurant! 

Bonneville Salt Flats is well known for the many land speed record attempts held there. A challenging environment for the photographer, the pure white salt reflects the intense sunlight, acting as a natural fill. No vegetation can grow there. Nothing breaks the bright white expanse except the shadows of men and their machines. The distant mountains are over the earth's curve making them appear to float on the horizon. Probably due to the bowl of the sky reflected by the salt, the 4,000 foot altitude and the absence of clouds the light seems to be bluer than normal.

A view of Mickey Thompson inside the cockpit of Challenger I.

Shipler owned a small Cessna monoplane that was often called into service for quick flights to and from Salt Lake City when immediate film processing was required or some piece of special equipment was needed. As an example, Thompson's pit crew decided they needed to determine the way air was flowing over the car at high speed. Thompson felt that he was losing steering ability because the streamlined body shape was creating aerodynamic “lift,” much like an airplane wing. In an attempt to visualize what might be happening, numerous short pieces of knitting yarn were taped to the car's body surface. A high speed motion picture camera was flown in from Salt Lake to film the fast moving car in slow motion allowing the engineers to “see” the airflow. A challenging problem with this concept was that no one was allowed within a mile of the course. The camera was equipped with a very long lens which made tracking the moving vehicle extremely difficult. I'm not sure if the results were useful or not.

It was always an interesting experience to fly onto the salt flats. The Cessna was an all-metal, high-wing aircraft. As you got close to the surface, the reflection of the salt from the wing effectively created a total whiteout for the pilot. Landing was more a matter of letting the plane sink until you could tell you had touched down by the sound and feel of the wheels on the salt! 

Mickey Thompson’s view of the Challenger I instrument panel and the front of the car through the windshield.

The atmosphere was tense much of the time. My impression of Thompson and Breedlove was of intense personalities thoroughly focused on their tasks. They both had a certain aloofness, more the result of this focus than of arrogance. Their support crews seemed to work around the clock, insuring that the machines were as fault free as possible. At the speeds they were attempting, the slightest problem with  the vehicle could easily lead to a serious situation, even death, for the driver.

Because Shipler Photography was there to record Thompson's record attempt, our job revolved around him, his crew and his car. Most of that work was done with 4” x 5” sheet film cameras. We used fast films because of the extra exposure latitude they offered. Images were needed in both color and black and white. The color was shot with transparency film because it had a proven record of reliability and the color intensity was excellent compared to color negative film of that time..

I had asked Bill if I could shoot 35mm and was given the “OK”, provided it didn't interfere with my assigned duties and with the understanding that it was for my personal use. Advertising agencies of that day looked upon 35mm cameras as toys, only suitable for family snapshots.

I was able to shoot some images of Breedlove's crew working on his car Spirit of America, but I was never on the salt when he ran. Not much came of his efforts that year, although he later set a new record of over 600 mph.

Craig Breedlove's Spirit of America being checked over by some members of his crew.

1960 also saw Donald Campbell, the son of the legendary Sir Malcolm Campbell, in attendance with his gas turbine car Bluebird. The British effort was something to behold. They had a regular convoy of Land Rovers that accompanied the tractor trailer that held the Bluebird. Due to concerns that rival teams might gain some advantage from the car's design, I was never allowed near this car with my cameras. Only their staff photographers had that privilege. Paranoia was the order of the day! 

All in all, the summer of 1960 was a one of those memorable photographic moments, brought back to life with the discovery of the trunk!

You can find out more about Jerry Currier and his photography at www.currier-photos.com or view his Portfolio. You may contact him at
cursmicon@sbcglobal.net.

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