Artist Statement

‘Twelve Pictures about a Bike Race’

Martin Helmut Reis

 

Dateline: Hamilton, Ontario. October 2003.

For Immediate Release

 

The world has gathered in Hamilton to watch a bicycle race. But not just any Bike Race: It’s the World Championship of Cycling.  In what promises to be a fantastic week for cycling fans from around the globe, the beautiful city of Hamilton (CANADA) will play host to the finest athletes on two wheels from Chile to Mongolia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The history of bicycle racing in Canada is well over 100 years old, but perhaps this was the biggest bike race ever to be held on Canadian soil.  Therefore, I chose a very ‘historic’ approach to creating these 12 images.  I used a vintage reporters camera from the 1950’s, the last silver-emulsion based film available and the final archival prints were in several cases toned in blue or copper to further enhance the subject matter.  All this was done to re-create the nostalgia of the history of bicycle racing which Hamilton now shares forever.

 

But that’s only half the story of this inspiring week in HamiltonsHistory.  For a week, the city opened its streets to a different use of public space.  Fast moving, polluting and noisy car traffic was replaced by the footsteps of thousands of locals and visitors discovering and rediscovering the beauty of its streets and avenues.

 

For a week, bicycles and athletes showed what a delightful city Hamilton could be without our most beloved sacred cow ‘the automobile’.  

 

For a week, the modern bicycle, one of the most ingenious inventions of the 20 th century, celebrated the harmony of man and machine.