Shadowing Kees van de Coolwijk around Killarney introduced me to the challenges of photographing motorsport in Black & White.
Home processing certainly destroyed a few good photographs as mixing your own chemicals from dry powder and controlling processing temperatures with Mom’s medical kit did not always deliver great results.
Kees called time on his Goodwood and Killarney era and I got the manila brown envelope invitation. Trevor Fisk introduced Steve Leech to Killarney and as the Master colour printer at Matter & Weich he would shoot the first heats of everything before darting off to return for prizegiving with a box of colour prints. Nobody could match his turnaround time and he was a firm favourite with every competitor for many years. A process he would repeat for every event until the digital era arrived.
Returning to Cape Town we would become good friends at Killarney. A case of being completely different made us the same. Thank you for the many, many, fun hours shared somewhere around Killarney, in all kinds of weather. Your sense of humour did not allow life to interfere.
Sadly, your enormous contribution to the heritage of Killarney (motorsport) cannot be measured or valued and will only be appreciated many years into the future. Most from this era will be able to produce at least one photograph taken by Steve Leech.
Many came, many left, you are forever!
Rest easy friend!
Published by: Patrick Vermaak
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