"Drunk people, high people, drum 'n' bass..." Sophie Green's day at the races

“Rain, more rain, drunk people, high people, drum ’n bass, dodgy hair, flat caps, tattoos, gold chains, piercings, sun shine, tank tops, topless chests, slush puppies, hot dogs, chips, chicks, fast cars, pimped out cars, racer boy heaven…”

We asked photographer Sophie Green to discuss her brilliant series, A Day at the Races, and that’s what she told us. But it all sums it up rather well. Her images are instantaneous, evocative, and revelatory, and represent the edited-down summary of 14 rolls shot in one day at the Ultimate Street Car Festival at Santa Pod Raceway.

Sophie says: “I spent a weekend capturing the sport and the community in its most revealing and honest form. The process was very organic and the series is a spontaneous, intuitive reaction to what I observed, documenting not only the racing drivers, but also their families and friends.

“As well as finding interesting faces, I wanted to capture scenes and details that created a story around the sport.”

And so it does – as a person who couldn’t give a monkeys about cars or racing them, I was very drawn in by the images, which seem to show the people and the eccentricities and the strange sense of ceremony aground racing. They’re great, and a lovely continuation of Sophie’s Bangers and Smash series.