On the Top 10 list of don’t-try-this-at-home jobs, riding the Wall of Death must be pushing for Christmas number one. The seemingly gravity-defying motorbike show, which sees performers whizz around the inside of a giant wooden barrel at completely impossible angles, seems to be aptly-named. It’s also got the stripped down old-time entertainment vibe going on, and that’s a feel photographer Gary Margerum was keen to capture in his photography collection, and now book, Hell Riders: A Journey with the Wall of Death.
Tired of all the photoshoppery of the Instagram age, Margerum was all about keeping it real on this project. He had abandoned plans to shoot a film of the Ken Fox troupe due to cost, instead opting for a lo-fi solution using no lighting, no staging and minimal post-editing shenanigans. What shines through the monochrome images is that, despite the grisly name, the troupe and the audience always look like they’re having a blast. Dread to think what their insurance premiums are like though.
Log on to www.garymargerum.blogspot.co.uk to snag a copy.
