It’s been photography all the way for Silverstone Park’s appointed ‘snapper’ Kirsty Edmonds…
Kirsty is a familiar and friendly face among businesses on site. Since taking on the role in late 2013 she has provided an estimated 10,000 images of activity at the estate.
Kirsty said:
“It’s such an innovative place where you always feel like good things are happening.”
There are so many warm and creative people that are getting to grasps with solving problems of the future. It’s very exciting to capture who they are, what they do and what they are making through the lens.
Kirsty’s background is in news and sports photography – for much of her 20-year career she has been a chief photographer for the Northampton Chronicle
That was preceded as a spell as a nurse in a spinal injuries unit at a hospital in Salisbury which she describes as “a grounding experience that made you have more gratitude”.
But her heart lay with photography – a topic that has fascinated her since childhood.
Kirsty explained:
“I fell in love with photography as a child – my grandad let me take one Polaroid photo a day if I helped in his allotment and this image appearing was just magical. I was hooked straight away.”
After her time as a nurse she moved onto local newspapers before finding a permanent home with ‘The Chron’. Celebs like Sting and Lionel Richie plus “all the Royals” have been snapped, although her biggest passion is sport, particularly cricket. Much of her work has appeared in the nationals.
She is also enthusiastic about covering stories about people “who legitimately need help but don’t have a voice”.
Yoga and gardening help to calm her after a deadline, as does listening to her vinyl record collection – including a very rare 1950s Ella Fitzgerald album.
Silverstone’s big Formula 1 race day enables her to capture sport and celebrities all in one place, but it is not without its perils.
Kirsty continued:
“I did get a great shot of Lewis Hamilton crowd surfing after he’d won the Grand Prix. He liked it so much he used it on his Twitter page!
That was the day I got trodden on by (Hollywood actor) Woody Harrelson on the grid – although it didn’t hurt as much as when I fell off a gate in front of Prince Charles in Banbury…
