John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Motor Sports & Diversity in C-ville Weekly

As couple of weeks ago, Kyle Daly, a reporter for C-ville, a weekly newspaper, interviewed me in connection with an article that he was writing on racial diversity in motor sports. The story, "Speed is Colorblind," came out yesterday, and it's terrific. You can read it here. (By the way,... Read more →

How to Shoot Like an Historian

An historian with a camera? That's a bit like a fish with a bicycle, isn't it? After all, a camera isn't a quill, a pencil, or a microfiche reader. It's not a computer or even an audio recorder. It isn't, that is, a tool of the historical trade. Don't get... Read more →

The Last Rolls of Kodachrome & the SBRA Drag Racing Finals

I shot my last two rolls of Kodachrome at the Southern Bracket Racing Association Finals, last October. At the time, I didn't actually think that they were going to be the last. Sure, I knew that Dwayne's Photo, the only lab in the US that developed the film, was going... Read more →

Car Culture, Continued: The SBRA Bracket Finals, 2010, at Eastside Speedway

Driving over the Blue Ridge Mountains to Eastside Speedway, after having been away for several months, feels like going home -- in an odd sort of way. My attachment to the place has nothing to do with family (although I've made a lot of friends there, over the last few... Read more →

ADRL Pro Mods @ Virginia Motorsports Park, 21-22 May 2010

No doubt about it, the nighttime is the right time for racing photography. I spent the weekend at Virginia Motorsports Park covering the American Drag Racing League's Speedtech U.S. Drags III for Drag Racing Online. The crowds were strong, especially for Saturday's eliminations, the speeds were amazing, records were set,... Read more →

Review: "Racing While Black": How an African American Stock Car Team Tried (and Failed) to Make Its Mark On Nascar

Leonard T. Miller dreamed of making it big in Nascar. His goal was to find a talented and ambitious black driver and build the racing team that would rocket him to stardom. Nascar [National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing] would be transformed; Miller would be a hero. Racing While... Read more →