Product Description

Ayrton Senna

In 1984 a young Brazilian named Ayrton Senna arrived on the scene in Formula 1. At the Monaco Grand Prix, driving an underpowered car, he astonished the racing world by finishing 2nd . Had the race not been stopped due to a downpour of rain, he would almost certainly have won. The following year, the man with the yellow helmet put his car on the pole no less than seven times and was winning races, something that convinced the skeptics he was seriously quick. Senna was not only on his way to becoming the fastest man on four wheels, but also was developing a reputation for being intense, highly intelligent, and mystical.

With a selection of 105 of his finest photographs, Paul-Henri Cahier’s Ayrton Senna – Through My Eye follows the magical driver from Sao Paulo over his 10 blistering fast years on the circuits of the world, until his untimely, tragic death at Imola in 1994 . Also included  in the book are 18 pages of text in which Paul-Henri explains how he came to be a fulltime Formula 1 photographer and, in his opinion, what made Senna so devastatingly quick. While the photographs stand alone, 9 pages of captions and thumbnail images give the reader a reference for where they were taken and what the mood and circumstances were at the time.

Author/photographer Paul-Henri Cahier met Rubens Barrichello at the Australian Grand Prix in February where Barrichello drove his Ferrari to a second place finish behind Italian Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault. Barrichello was pleased to accept Cahier’s tribute to fellow Brazilian driver, the late Ayrton Senna.

Paul-Henri Cahier

Paul-Henri Cahier lives in the south of France with his Japanese wife and three children. At an early age he began  accompanying his father, Bernard, a renowned automotive photojournalist, to the races. It wasn’t long before Paul-Henri picked up a camera and in a short period of time taught himself  how to focus, use a light meter and frame pictures properly. His first Formula 1 photographs were published in 1968 when he was only 15 years old and for the next twelve years his images appeared sporadically in motor racing publications.

After electing to call a halt to his studies, he dabbled in music and art; then he married Tami. “At this point I had to decide what I was going to do with my life,” he recalls. Motor racing  photography was the obvious choice, and Formula 1 the arena. Since  the early 80’s, he has traveled extensively on almost every continent, focusing his lens on the men and machines at the pinnacle of this complex and fascinating sport. Regarded as a master in his field, his work has appeared in many books and prestigious magazines the world over.