If you’re like us, you love cycling photography, and cyclocross photography in particular. And a retrospective look at the past season is a great way to relive some of the races that you watched, or even hopefully attended.
Now it’s sixth edition, the 2015/2016 Cyclocross Annual from Balint Hamvas is a great gift for yourself or the cyclocross racer in your life. As is mentioned in the press release below, the 2015/2016 album will make a great display on your coffee table and this year is being backed by a Kickstarter campaign.
“The book will be 240 pages of cyclocross goodness, including my best photos from all the major European races,” says Hamvas. It “will have four main sections–one each about the World Cup, the Superprestige, the BPost Bank Trofee series and the World Championships in Zolder. This year is especially memorable because Sven Nys will retire at the end of the season,” Hamvas added. “There will be a lengthy section on him, his career and archive photos.”
Take a look at the press release below and if you’re so inclined, follow the link to the Kickstarter campaign.
The perfect item for cyclocross and photography fans everywhere. Photo courtesy: Balint Hamvas
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California–January 20, 2016–Renowned cycling photographer Balint Hamvas has launched a pre-sale of his sixth annual cyclocross photo annual via Kickstarter. An eight-year veteran of the sport, Hamvas recently ventured into women’s cycling. Despite the diversification of his portfolio, Hamvas’ love for the mud remains strong.
“I had no idea what cyclocross was when I went to my first World Cup race eight years ago, but it was love at first sight,” said Hamvas. “Since my first bike race, I have photographed nearly 150 world-class events. For the last five years, I’ve produced a photo annual that tells the story of the season.”
Hamvas leverages his relationships in the sport to produce a book the mixes his gorgeous imagery with a mix of essays and reports that highlight key areas of interest in the sport of cyclocross.
“I’m able to ask riders, teams, manufactures and other interesting people involved in the sport to produce stories that I can include in the book,” noted Hamvas. “Their contributions are brilliant and tend to focus on topics that are rarely discussed or little known. These texts add a lot of context to the images, and readers have told me that they find this aspect of the book both important and insightful.”
A chapter on the prize money discrepancy between men and women in cyclocross has proved particularly poignant and a key talking point among those with the power to bridge the gap between the genders.
“During the last two years, we looked at the publicly available data on how much prize money the top men and the top women earn,” said Hamvas. “A telling chart displays the rather dismal data.”
While Hamvas solicits written contributions, the book is largely a one-man production. Hamvas has relied heavily on the generosity of his friends and family during the production phase. With his sixth annual looming, he’s opted for a different approach.
“I’ve decided to use kickstarter to raise the money for the 2015/2016 edition,” said Hamvas. “It’s pretty simple really. I’m looking for people to pledge to buy the book. If enough people share this pledge, I’ll hit my target and move forward with my project. As with all Kickstarter campaigns, if I lack enough backers, my project won’t get funded, and I’ll skip out on producing the book this year.”
The 2015/2016 album promises to be another beautiful book to display on your coffee table or pore over with your dirt-loving mates.
“The book will be 240 pages of cyclocross goodness, including my best photos from all the major European races,” said Hamvas. “The book will have four main sections – one each about the World Cup, the Superprestige, the BPost Bank Trofee series and the World Championships in Zolder.”
“This year is especially memorable because Sven Nys will retire at the end of the season,” Hamvas added. “There will be a lengthy section on him, his career and archive photos.
A 30-pound pledge functions a pre-order of the 2015/2016 Cyclocross Album with an estimated delivery of July 2016. Want your name in the book or a limited-edition print? That will run you 50 pounds. For 500 pounds, you can spend a day shadowing Hamvas at a race. There’s even a five-pound option, which gets you a small print of your choice.
The 2015/2016 Cyclocross Album Kickstart campaign runs through 6 February. Visit the campaign page for additional information: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cyclocross/2015-2016-cyclocross-album.
