A J Wood ARPS - Punters - DPOTY 2019 Finalist

A J Wood ARPS - 'Punters' - DPOTY 2019 Finalist

RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year 2019

What makes going round the racecourses of the UK so interesting is the people who attend race meetings: the punters. It is a subsection of British society that is difficult to define: men and women, old and young, from different social backgrounds and walks of life. To my way of thinking what they have in common is an entrepreneurial spirit: they study ‘The Racing Post’, the race card and of course their smartphones, looking for opportunities that others might have missed, trying to pick a winner. Of all the tribes in Britain, which is surely one of the most tribal places in the world, racegoers are a different breed.

A J Wood ARPS

A J Wood ARPS

A J Wood ARPS

A J Wood ARPS

A J Wood ARPS

I’ve been photographing full time for seven or eight years now and photographing people is what I love to do best, especially the people who live in Britain, which is why I started this project: a book or a series of photozines on racegoers. The first photozine, entitled ‘Punters’ was published in October 2019.

These photos document the people who attend the racecourses every day in this country. I have been engaged in this project for about a year and I am going to produce a book when it is finished which contains at least one photo from every racecourse in mainland Britain.

The most challenging aspect of the project has been the weather. As an outdoors activity, racing is subject to the vagaries of the British weather which can ruin a day’s shooting. Race meetings are sometimes cancelled at short notice.

When I start a new project, I typically look for large gatherings of people to photograph. As I go along, I develop ways of shooting and interacting with people and make mental lists of the types of images that I want. Before long I begin to develop theories about what sort of stories the images are telling and this influences the sort of pictures I make.

The editing stage usually only involves conversion to black and white. Occasionally a small crop is necessary but as I only shoot with a 28mm prime lens and want all the images to have a similar feel, I try to avoid this as much as possible.

Mark Phillips (Chair, RPS Documentary Group) presents Andrew Wood with his DPOTY 2019 finalist's certificate and prize

Dave Thorp