It all started on a Tuesday in February. I was having a chat with Scott Jones that afternoon about our photography plans for the 2012 season. I had no concrete plans at the time so I just deadpanned that I’d like to check out the Isle of Man TT someday.
Somewhat on a whim, Scott suggested trying crowdsourcing to raise funds to go to the TT this year, with a book project serving as backer rewards for contributions. I played along, daydreaming out loud about making a book on Guy Martin’s first TT win. Jokes about quitting my job ensued. It was impossible, I thought. Surely this was just a pipe dream.
Incredibly, it wasn’t. Three months later I was at the Isle of Man TT, having both quit my job, and raised enough funds thanks to the generous help of too many people to name here. It was a fairy tale dream come true, with just one minor hiccup: Guy Martin didn’t win.
I had promised books to my project backers so I had to make something. In the meantime, I found myself repeatedly (and of course gladly) telling and retelling friends and family about my trip. Sometimes, depending on who I was talking to, I would have to explain what the TT was too.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and the end result is Tourist Trophy, an informal photo journal of my first experience at the Isle of Man told in chronological order from my perspective as a race fan and photographer.
My aim for the project was to create something that can help spark some curiosity about the TT for non-race fans and still be interesting enough to leaf through for those already in the know. If you get around to reading it, thanks for coming along for the ride.
I can’t wait to go back.
Be sure to order your copy of Tourist Trophy (no coffee table is complete without it), and thanks again to all the A&R readers who helped send Dan to the Isle of Man TT.
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