Book Review: Formula 1 in Camera 1970-1979 by Paul Parker and Rainer Schlegelmilch

A few posts ago, I reviewed Paul Parker’s “Formula 1 in Camera 1960-69“. That book was born out of the success of the earlier books in this series on grand prix racing in the 70s and 80s. “Formula 1 in Camera 1970-79” is a collaboration between Parker and well known F1 photographer, Rainer Schlegelmilch on what many consider the rawest age of F1 racing, the 1970s. As the title suggests, this series of books are photo book albums where the photography rather than the text does the talking. Grand prix racing in the 70s spawned legendary names into the sport – Stewart, Lauda, Hunt, Fittipaldi, Andretti, etc. however the great thing about Parker’s book is that the photography also includes a healthy mix of action shots of drivers lower down the grid.

The book’s format is consistent with the series. Each chapter covers the championship year starting from Jochen Rindt’s posthumous title in 1970 to Jody Scheckter’s driver’s title for Ferrari in 1979.

The Schlegelmilch photography is the obvious attraction with Formula 1 in Camera 1970-79. In glorious color, the photo layout panels are varied throughout the book and the paper/photo resolution quality is excellent. The photo collection itself includes a good combination of race action shots alongside driver portraits and the occasional candid track-side photos. Like the other books in this series, there is more of a focus on car/driver racing photos compared to say, Schlegelmilch’s own book “The Roaring 70s” which has photography which explores more of the driver and team personalities.

Paul Parker provides compact paragraph captions to each of the photos that gives the reader enough helpful text to appreciate the photo. If you are looking for more indepth reading about the 70s grand prix era, you will read other F1 history books.

Note: A new volume #2 of this title (with Jacky Ickx in the Ferrari 312B/2 on the cover) was released in  2012 with 250 photographs replaced by new images. I haven’t had an opportunity to pickup a copy of volume #2 but if Haynes want to send me a review copy they are more than welcome!

Money Shot or Wow Factor: Its the rarer photos that are a joy – for me its Graham Hill in the “lobster wing” Brabham BT34, Rolf Stommelen’s ‘periscope’ March 721-4,  great shots of John Watson’s  Brabham BT44-3 and Penske PC4-001 and Depailler in the Tyrrell P34-7.

Suitable for: Nostalgic F1 fans who pine for the bygone era of 70s cars and drivers.