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LONG LONG AGO  It
is difficult to imagine today,that talent, enthusiasm and hard
work were reasons enough to succeed in that different world of
long ago and far away...... Yet it was so.....
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This then is the story of an era that transformed not only motor racing but also the very fabric of every day life. The career of Michael Cooper captured the dying moments of the front engined grand prix car and saw the transition into the commercially sponsored world of Formula One. He was born on the ides-the-15th-of-March, his father George, hailing from Scotland and his mother Alice from the prosperous area of Wanstead in East London. His early educational days were spent at Rowan House private school, thereafter he attended a local state school at Hounslow, but with his ambivalent attitude towards scholarly pursuits, he left at fifteen to confront the mediocrity of post-war Britain. 
(Michael at fifteen absorbing the wisdom in John Bolster’s racing book “Motoring is my Business”) He had expected to join his father who ran a small advertising agency in Holborn, London, but this had not happened, so his local employment office had pushed him in the direction of a job that they promised was a way into the world of advertising. In fact he found himself working for Coltman Displays, a company that provided the front of house stills for motion pictures. This not surprisingly provided little scope for the ability of a bright and keen mind whilst a second attempt at employment, this time as a messenger for a Savile Row firm, resulted in rejection. Thanks to the resilience of youth, the young Michael had soon moved on to Coleman, Prentice and Varley, an advertising agency. Here he advanced to the role of progress chaser, making sure that the work undertaken was on time and within budget. Thus, even this early on, the seeds of a photographic career were sown in fertile ground. This embryonic state was further encouraged when the company sold him an old Boots camera, enabling his first work to be published in the house magazine. At this time of course, in the mid-fifties, national service was still compulsory, and Michael's photographic talent was to be put to good use. Colman, Prentice and Varley were the advertising agency for the War Office and so Michael found himself joining a photographic unit at the Ministry of Defence. (Strangely this mirrored his father's wartime role working for the MoD in Army Intelligence and being involved in the Normandy landings.) After a brief interlude at Portsmouth he was ordered to report to a General Short at Whitehall, but his attempts at entering by the front door were robustly rebuffed by the guarding soldiery. Instead he had to use the tradesmen's entrance at the back! To begin with he worked in the training school that was situated in an anonymous office block near the Army and Navy store and Victoria station undertaking forays into local markets. Here he surreptitiously took photographs of street traders and passers-by to practice his trade. On completion he moved to Northumberland Avenue that housed the Joint Intelligence Bureau which, as the name implies, was staffed by representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force. There he became familiar with names and faces of various spies and undesirables, as well as the legendary miniature Minox camera. All this of course necessitated signing the Official Secrets Act, so enough said. The advantage of his 
privileged almost civilian status was the total absence of orthodox
military training and all the associated horrors of institutionalised
army life. Michael as part of the photographic unit at the Ministry of Defence for the obligatory National Service Here he is demonstration his inventiveness with the camara. However a uniform had to be worn once a week to collect his wages, which invariably provoked the order, 'Get your hair cut'. It is perhaps not surprising that the various incumbents of this military sponsored activity were all moonlighting as wedding photographers and such like courtesy of their official equipment, which was put to far more use privately than it ever was for the Crown! Two years were so spent and the now twenty-year-old emerged to begin the rest of his life unharmed and much the wiser for his experiences. Meanwhile Cooper senior who had, rather late in life at his son's suggestion, learnt to drive took to visiting Goodwood for the BARC Members meetings with Michael, the mode of transport being a Hillman Minx. Exposure to racing cars and the very real glamour and mystique that motor racing then enjoyed had a decisive effect on the young photographer; his comments about how exciting the Jensen 541 was had an unexpected result. Arriving at a lunch appointment with his father he was astounded to be greeted by George in a gleaming white Jensen 541! By now the family had moved to rural Surrey (where Michael Cooper still lives) and the Jensen was, driven fast and furiously to and from Goodwood and elsewhere without let or hindrance. Such driving style was very much of the time overtaking other vehicles and going fast, whilst generally frowned upon, were not regarded as the deadly sins they are now. Generously Cooper senior allowed Michael to drive the Jensen, and inevitably an accident ensued which was to be the final catalyst in the long chain of circumstances that made the man. Sure of his abilities as only the young can be and accompanied by his sister and father sitting in the back. Michael had wound the Jensen up to over 1OOmph when the car some distance in front indicated to turn right. Thinking to cut things finely he misjudged the closing speed and tardiness of the other vehicle. In attempting to brake hard whilst on lock he lost control, spinning down the road, hitting the kerb, which tore off a rear wheel before assaulting a telegraph pole and finally stopping. Fortunately only pride and the Jensen suffered and a call was made from a nearby house to the local garage to come and sweep up the bits. This turned out to be the emporium of a certain John Coombs, already a familiar name in the annals of motor sport, who would sell Michael his first car, a souped up Ford Anglia, registration number 2 N PJ. Upon arrival at the garage, the somewhat down cast budding ace was thrilled to see an Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D type that was due to be driven by Ron Flockhart in the forthcoming 1959 Goodwood Tourist Trophy. Somehow John Coombs was persuaded to provide a pass for the race, but this did not in fact materialise. Undismayed Michael turned up at Goodwood and John Coombs gave him his entrant's pass that proved sufficient to gain access to trackside (if only it were so simple today!). 
Amazingly Michael still has this first pass given to him by Coombs and as you can see from the text on the back.....How times have changed! 
He later found out, by judicious folding of the entrant’s armband it bore a fairly close resemblance to an official photographer’s pass). By now he was working as an assistant for a fashion photographer at No.1 Park Lane, London, and had borrowed a Hasselblad portrait camera without a prism, which meant that all he could see were reverse images. Nevertheless the pictures he took were outstanding and his first experience of being so close to the action had made a big impression. 
A fortunate chance in time, as another photographer unwittingly captures Michael Cooper about to take one of his most famous photographs, standing in amongst the action for "Jim Clark's 'Le Mans' start at the 1962 TT". He is the photographer on the far right who is fully visible and wearing his arm band, behind car 7 A particular memory for Michael was watching Moss drift the DBR1 Aston around Woodcote and the way that the cars seemed to be aimed straight at you at Madgwick. Even early on Michael had realised that motor racing was financially prohibitive without your own private gold mine. However the thrill of standing right next to Moss, Brooks, Shelby, Brabham, Clark, Hill etc. as they did their absolute worst was almost an adequate substitute for not racing oneself. 
Michael seen here in dark overalls camara at the ready During 1959 Michael joined the famous Steering Wheel Club in Mayfair and Thursday was the night most frequented by the drivers of the day, when he could show his work to the assembled racers. Sometimes he would be given a lift home, usually accomplished at breakneck speed, by Roy Salvadori or another famous 'name'. Meanwhile his first motor racing pictures were published in the BARC journal and Good Motoring Magazine, whilst his real career had advanced considerably working from studios in the extremely prestigious Park Lane. It is a measure of how relaxed things were in those days that the motor racing photography was often achieved with borrowed cameras from a shop in the Burlington Arcade, usually a Voightlander and the idiosyncratic Periflex with its strange viewfinder. So, with the swinging sixties just over the horizon and the world of motor racing about to change for ever, Michael Cooper was set to capture some of the most evocative images of the decade: Fortuitously, because he was a professional photographer who made his living from other images and subjects, Michael's work is so much more than just racing cars. As Michael’s name gradually became more synonymous with the racing image it allowed him to go further afield and he took on more national and international races. Michael often traveled with Geoff Goddard and Michael Turner, both talented in their own fields. It really was a golden age of racing with very few restrictions on photographers. During the years of his peripatetic existence in and around Europe Michael Cooper had enjoyed the freedom of being independent and taking pictures of whom he pleased, when he pleased. Combined with his other existence as a commercial photographer it had been at times very hard work, but above all else it had been fun. The life was unpredictable and spontaneous and he knew many of the drivers personally and enjoyed their hospitality. 
However, the growing professionalism and commercial pressures that were taking over had begun to alter the raison d'etre of motor sport. It's a shame it came to this! The dangers of letting marketing men take control! The arrival of Mark McCormack's International Management Group with Jackie Stewart as his first F1 client radically altered the relationship between drivers and everybody else. Suddenly they were no longer accessible publicly without recourse to a cheque book. Additionally with sponsors now controlling budgets and often who drove what, drivers themselves were under more pressure. It had all become much more serious and a lot less enjoyable. One direct consequence was the gradual loss of English speaking and British drivers from F1 post Stewart. Although Watson and Hunt carried the flag for Britain thereafter, grids were largely filled by South American and Italian drivers, with a smattering of other nationalities. With little money to spare in overtaxed Britain, an almost total absence of British sponsors and no consistent or informed media coverage of motor sport, British drivers were simply not marketable regardless of their abilities. Those who did manage to break through found themselves driving uncompetitive cars that quickly destroyed their F1 careers. Circuits too had changed, inevitably given the huge increases in speed, and some of the classic venues did not survive. As part of the drive towards more perceived safety, track access had become strictly controlled and limited even for photographers. No longer was it possible for Michael to stand in line with an approaching car as it had been at Silverstone, Goodwood or at most continental circuits. Instead long focal length lenses became necessary and the resulting images were lacking perspective, the magnification causing depth of field problems and the loss of all movement in the image. In time nearly all circuits bar Monaco would look the same through a 400mm lens, car, track, run off area, armco and sponsor's logos. Additionally the cars themselves had become less and less aesthetically pleasing, and the drivers barely visible. Michael did continue his activities working for Yardley, Gulf, Marlboro, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Michelin, Page & Moy and many others over the years. 
He developed a very close relationship with Chris Rogers who handled public relations for Michelin, which led to work on the Michelin Guide and extensive coverage of rallying of the period. A sample of Michaels work for Michelin They had a lot of fun together and Michael's professional vistas expanded considerably, with shoots all over Europe. Later, when Chris Rogers took over a similar role for Honda, Michael maintained their working partnership that had taken him to Japan and many other far flung places and continues to this day. During 1970 he photographed extensively on the set of the Steve McQueen film ‘Le Mans’ and covered some Grand Prix’s for Yardley whom he remembers were very nice to work for. Tragically this was to prove another annus horribilis with McLaren, Courage and Rindt all dying in accidents. 
Ultimately he finally realised that he no longer enjoyed the F1 scene during a shoot that featured a BRM emerging from a giant Marlboro cigarette packet at Paul Ricard. Nevertheless he worked for Marlboro for over two years and was still photographing F1 occasionally up to the early 1980s. As late as 1981 he was nearly run down by a crashing Nelson Piquet in a Brabham at Silverstone, a piece of which he keeps in his study. 
The signed piece of Piquet's car 
(right) Michael about to be blasted around Goodwood by Bruce McLaren He had been driven around Goodwood by Bruce McLaren in a Can-Am McLaren, by Innes Ireland in a GT 40 and Jackie Epstein in a Lola T70 at Silverstone. There had been escapades to Montlhery with 'Steady' Barker in a baby Peugeot, rides with the Hon. Patrick Lindsay in supercharged Alfa Romeos and much more besides. Rallying had not escaped his attention either. In 1968 he had accompanied the testing of the Hillman Hunter at the tank testing grounds in Chobham with Andrew Cowan, Jenny Birrell, Colin Malkin, Brian Coyle and Des O'Dell for the London to Sydney Marathon. His suggestions for action shots of the car in the air comprehensively wrecked it, causing the engine to move four inches forward! A year later he attended the RAC Rally and in the early 1980s he covered the Manx Rally, Scottish Rally, Circuit of Ireland, the RAC Rally again several times and many others. Truck racing, the British motorcycle Grand Prix, World Sports Car Champion- ship at Donington and Brands Hatch and rallycross were also on the agenda. Michael still does photographic assignments these include commissions for Honda that take him all over the globe, but it is fitting that this celebration of his work should return full circle to Goodwood for the inaugural Revival Meeting in 1998, over 40 years after it all began .  Back
to the future, Michael returns to Goodwood for the inaugural
Revival Meeting in 1998, where it all started over 40 years
ago. He captures Moss in the Aston Martin DBR1/300 dicing with
Martin Brundle in John Coombs's yellow Jaguar D type as they
lap another D type at the chicane. Below: Michael was back the following year 1999 at the Festival of Speed at Goowood House, where he meets his old friend and renouned motor racing photographer Rainer Schlegelmilch. 
Now, decades later, Michael’s evocative racing images capture a moment in the history of racing never to be repeated. Recently Michael has displayed these images at galleries and race functions.  Two
pictures of Michael's good friend, Stirling Moss. Right, at
a recent exhibition and left signing Michael's original prints
Such is the growing interest in this era that Michael decided to choose a hundred or more of his favorite photographs from this period and release them as limited edition prints. Amazingly he still holds the rights to his own photographs and still has all his own original negatives. Michael married Liz in 1971 and in 1973 they moved to their current address in deepest rural Surrey from which Michael still ventures forth on photographic assignments. Michael's enthusiasm has rubbed off on his family. He and his wife Liz used to go to the race meetings together, she already being a motor racing fan when they met and the two (now grown up) children were no strangers to the race track! 
Michael with his Wife Liz and two children Jo and Ben at a recent exhibition of his work "I hope that my prints will give pleasure and, hopefully, an appreciating asset to buyers for years to come." Quote "Michael Cooper" Text By Paul Parker Courtesy of Palawan Press edited and added to by Greg Terry-Short
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