| “As photographers, we work with teams across all categories” |
| Rachele Bieli: I work for GPAgency and we have several clients in WorldSBK, from Pirelli and Prosecco to teams including the factory Kawasaki team, MotoZoo and D34G. Denise Govoni: I work for an established photographer, Luca Gorini, and we have teams across all categories, including SBK teams GoEleven and Motocorsa. Elisa Ceschel: This year I am working more on my own, with client teams competing in Supersport and WorldWCR. I also collaborate with Denise, so there’s some overlap. Different paths, one shared passion Denise: I took up photography after my dad passed away. I found his equipment and asked myself whether I should sell it or do something with it. That was about seven years ago. I took a few shots of a friend of mine, current WorldWCR rider Beatrice Barbera, and she showed them to Luca Gorini, my current boss, which is how it all started for me. This is my first year as a WorldSBK photographer. Rachele: My path’s been a little different. At 18, I started studying photography at art school and had the chance to experiment with many types of photography such as fashion and advertising, but I soon decided I wanted to focus on sport. Aside from motorsport, I also collaborate with a German agency that deals more with marathons and cycling races. At 17, I basically knew that this what I wanted to do. Elisa: I’m a self-taught photographer and have always liked to take pictures. I’ve dabbled with different styles, also as a member of a photography association in my hometown, but sports photography is the field that really interests me. I have a boyfriend who rides and so I would find myself going to tracks with him and taking pictures. In doing that, I gradually got to know people, which eventually brought me here. Motorsport as the driving force Rachele: I had the opportunity to do some internships in fashion companies when I was younger, but I wasn’t stimulated there and found it hard to be creative. But here, it’s totally different, maybe because it’s fun, dynamic, and constantly evolving. Elisa: I think you’re either suited to an environment or you’re not, and if you like the subject matter you’re shooting, that makes it easier. There’s a lot going on here, and you have to seize the moment, whether that’s the rider getting ready to go out, a crash, a rider coming back happy, angry, so many things, and you have to be good at interpreting all that. Denise: I like trying to capture the riders, who are all so different. There are those who keep to themselves and don’t want to acknowledge the photographer, and those who feel more relaxed in front of the camera. You always try to capture the moment, the person, whoever it is. The highs… Rachele: I like it all! I like travelling the world, sharing experiences with my colleagues, planning the weekend, taking the scooter around the track to shoot. In terms of photography, I love identifying the most unique points of a track and shooting there. The key is to make the work fun, so that it’s never just a job. Denise: I prefer shooting trackside to be honest, which is my main job at the Italian championship. But in WorldSBK, my favourite thing to shoot is probably the podiums, as I love capturing that moment of absolute joy. Elisa: When I started out, one of the things I liked least was taking portraits but over time, I realised I’m actually better at the portraits, and I now prefer shooting in the pits, capturing the different moments that arise. When you find the right connection with a rider, it comes easily. I also like selecting the shots that will make it onto social media. That’s when I edit them with the vision I have in mind and try to convey not just the image, but the feeling behind that shot. With an Instagram post, I try to tell the story of a whole race weekend. And the lows… Elisa: I’d say the biggest challenge is breaking into this world in the first place. There’s a core group of photographers who are established here, which means that coming in as a new entry is always going to be difficult. When I arrived in 2022, I was pretty much the only female photographer, and everyone’s looking at you, wondering who you are. But then gradually you show what you can do and find the way. The hardest part, as with many things, is getting started and then being able to gain people’s trust and establish a relationship where your work is respected. If you have passion and something to say, gradually things start to happen… Balancing the professional and the personal Denise: I live at home with my mum and am a little anxious about leaving her when I travel. Another concern is my dog, making sure I have someone who can take him for walks. But my mum doesn’t mind me being away, in fact she encourages me to go! Since losing my dad, I’m always worried about her. Rachele: I live with my parents, so it’s all quite easy in my case. I have a boyfriend, so perhaps I see him less than I might if I were doing another job, but he’s very pleased and proud of what I’m doing, so for now it’s all good. Elisa: I live with my boyfriend and we’ve been fixing up our house for the last seven years, which is time consuming and costly! I also have a ‘day job’ that has nothing to do with photography – the quality control of car key parts, so very different! We’re always very busy at home and so I really have to plan well to attend races. I’d like to be here full-time, but it needs to make sense financially. It’s a balancing act, for sure. The instability of freelance life Denise: As a freelance photographer, the financial situation is always a bit of an unknown from one year to the next. Rachele: Unfortunately, this is a subject that always comes up, year after year and across all fields, in that the work of the photographer is often undervalued. Elisa: I’m finding it tougher now that I’m trying to build my own business. You have to weigh up every situation. If a potential client only has limited budget, you need to decide whether it’s worth doing. Perhaps they only need a few pictures each day, but to take those shots, I need to be at the track all weekend. And there are equipment costs, the travel and so on. At the end of the day, you’re doing a job that requires a certain type of commitment and it’s only right that clients recognize this. What makes the perfect shot? Rachele: The perfect shot needs to be technically correct but, more importantly, it fully captures the emotions of that exact moment. The perfect moment. Elisa: For me, ‘perfect’ is the shot that turned out exactly how I imagined it, a shot I perhaps envisioned while having a coffee, thinking, “How can I photograph that rider in a way that stands out?” There are only a few shots I’m truly proud of, but the first that comes to mind is a photo I took of Jonathan Rea in his final year with Kawasaki. I’d been trying to capture the shot all morning – the light at a particular angle, him stepping out of the garage while securing his helmet, just a few people in the background – and I got it! Denise: It’s difficult to define the ‘perfect’ shot. Perhaps when a rider is on their own in a race – running out front or even right at the back of the field – and you can tell the story of their race with just one image. Highlights so far… Denise: For me, it’s an episode from 2024. We had the Evan Bros Racing Team as a client, and so I experienced Ana Carrasco’s world championship win first-hand. I was there with the Dorna photographers, taking pictures during the celebrations. That was a really nice experience, to be there, trackside, and realizing, “Wow, I’m here too!” Rachele: For me, the final round of 2024, which was also my very first Superbike round! During that Jerez weekend, there was a conference relating to the women’s championship, which I was there to photograph. It was an important moment, and I think the fact there was a female photographer there for the occasion was significant. That whole weekend was a great experience. Elisa: I’d say the current season, when potential new clients ask me to work for them. This is already a milestone for me and tells me that I must be working in the right way. This was one of my SBK goals and so I’m happy to achieve it, there’s real satisfaction in gaining new clients. Future goals Rachele: I’d like to continue with this job, for sure. I’m not sure where, perhaps in MotoGP, but I’d definitely like to be doing this same kind of work. Denise: Let’s say that the goal would be MotoGP, which could be feasible considering that the agency I work for is already active there. But I’m a little bit cautious, also because I’ve only been in this world for a short time, so I want to gain more experience to be sure that I’m ready and up to the task. Elisa: Every year I set myself goals to try and grow and learn. And one of those was to cover an F1 race, which I recently did. I’m going to try and do more rounds in the future, because it might look similar from the outside but it’s a different kind of environment, a different kind of photography. But in general, yes, I want to stay in motorsport. |
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