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Brian Vernor: Capturing 'cross, from moving pictures to stills

By Fred Dreire, VeloNews associate editor
Published: Dec. 15, 2006
Vernor on the job
Vernor on the job
Photo: Fred Dreier

Brian Vernor first caught the cycling world’s attention with his 2004 film "Pure, Sweet Hell," which showcased the witty, hard-driven men and women of the domestic cyclo-cross scene . This year Vernor again focused his lens on the ’cross community, this time in the form of a photography project. Vernor followed the entire 2006 Crankbrothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross from Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Portland, Oregon, snapping portraits of ’crossers, fans and industry personalities in his makeshift tent booth along the way.

Vernor, a native of Santa Cruz, California, whose day job is assembling bikes for Santa Cruz Bicycles, is in Providence, Rhode Island, this weekend for the 2006 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships. His photo project is there as well — 30 of Vernor’s black-and-white prints are on display at The Hub bike shop in downtown Providence through Sunday. On Saturday, The Hub will host a reception for Vernor and his project starting at 7 p.m. Check it out.

VeloNews: How did the idea for this project come to you?

Brian Vernor: The idea came from just looking at a lot of old pictures from photographers that I admire. Irving Penn was one of them… he was known for doing portraits of people and separating them from their familiar environment and photographing them in front of a simple background. That idea, paired with the community of the ’cross scene seemed like a cool combination because the strength of the ’cross scene is in the people and the personalities. I’ve been wanting to do the project for a year. I had come up with it during the previous season, but it was hard organize. I needed a year to put it together.

VN: I take it this was a self-financed project?

BV: Yeah, this was mostly on me. I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of money in the bike industry for a project like this. But there were a lot of friends along the way who helped me. I didn’t get any financial assistance but I got hooked up with housing and shared a lot of rental cars. The USGP supported the project from the beginning, so they didn’t charge me for booth space. People in the scene like Bruce Fina and Richard Fries were really big supporters of it.

VN: What is the significance of showing the photos at nationals?

BV: Well, I wanted to have the prints at nationals because people from all over the country will be here. I took hundreds of photos, and I’ll always be selective with what I show. I made 30 prints for the show and there are plenty more I can make. I’d like to present them in similar shows in big ’cross cities in 2007. I researched some gallery options in Portland, Oregon, and I’d like to show them around the country. Hopefully for those shows I’ll be able to show some more photos.

VN: Who were your favorite subjects to photograph?

BV: I definitely had the best time when people got into the funniness of the project. I mean, it’s a forced situation — you’re taking people out of their comfort zone. It’s totally portrait photography and your subjects are very aware of it. But some people had fun with it and really hammed it up while we talked and tried different things. They’re the ones where the personality comes out. Some of them are posing like models or dancing with their bikes or obviously hamming it up for the camera. Others are more shy and their personality comes out really clearly. I was photographing Lyne Bessette and she says, ‘I’m just standing here smiling,’ but you can see she has this very infectious smile. It’s a really nice photo, I think, because you see her, and it really seems like her. She doesn’t have to dance around because she’s already a beautiful performer and an athlete. She’s a really friendly person and it comes across in the photos.

VN: Talk to me about the equipment that you used.

BV: It’s a Roloflex medium-format camera. All black-and-white negative film. It is definitely not an easy camera to use. There is no auto focus. It does nothing for you, and there’s a lot of tinkering I have to do while taking the photos. In some ways that annoyed the subjects, but with other people it was disarming. When someone is blasting away with their digital camera shooting a bunch of pictures, and it’s loud, it can be intimidating. Having an old camera sitting on a tripod and getting to look at the people and talk to them is not at all intimidating. I just have to wind the camera up. That helped a lot of people to feel comfortable with the project. It doesn’t seem professional, it seems like something you’re doing just for fun.

VN: Did the project come out as you had expected?

BV: You know, I didn’t know what to expect before I did the project. It was a new setup for me and I just started going and learned something new at each race I went to. I’d take away a lot from the previous shoot and I felt really confident by the end. I felt like I knew how to talk to people better and help them be at ease and let their personalities show through. I learn that stuff from all of my projects. I did "Pure Sweet Hell," and I’m working on a future film right now. Each of these projects is a little bit beyond my comfort zone. I’m constantly pushing myself a bit and it keeps me interested and keeps me doing it. I’m not presenting myself as a photographic professional. I’m a fan of cyclo-cross with an art project, and people can give to the project and not expect anything in return. I think it was fun for people to have something besides a bike race going on at the event. It was a whole other level of stuff to do at each event.

VN: Talk to me about your personal relationship with cyclo-cross racing.

BV: I was fortunate to grow up in Santa Cruz with guys like Justin Robinson, and it’s one of those places where ’cross has been going on for a long time, since the early ‘70’s. I did a ’cross race, and it was maybe my third bike race I had ever done and I was in high school and I was incredibly encouraged by the community. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was fun and friendly and not your average stressful sporting event. I continued to race and be a fan of the faster people as I got older. I got into doing photography and film stuff a little later and figured I could apply it to what I love about the sport.