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Trevor Jones After leaving school with one ‘O’ level, Jones worked on building sites and at an opticians for 18 months before he switched to working behind the counter at a camera shop in Eastbourne. He became involved in the photography studio upstairs, developing his interest by joining a local agency, before switching to London’s Hampstead & Highgate Express. Having worked also for Today newspaper, Jones has since contributed to specialist racing publications such as Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, Pacemaker, and Racing Post. The main picture of Frankie Dettori was taken after he won the 1999 Sussex Stakes on Aljabr and marked one of Jones’s last big shoots using film rather than digital. Unusually in daylight, he also used a flash to make the most of the blue that dominates the image. Dettori has ordered “thousands” of prints to accompany autograph requests. Similarly, John Magnier is reported to have Jones’s Sadler’s Wells image hanging on one of his many walls. The crop is “pretty much as I shot it”, according to Jones. “You’re conscious of the value of the horse and the eyes in the back of your head when you take a picture like that. You don’t want to push your luck. So aim to have just two or three nice shots. This was Sadler’s Wells in his prime.” The image below of a Newmarket July evening meeting was the result of years of trying. “It was one of those rare occasions when all the elements came together,” says Jones. “All the clouds give it a ‘grungy’ feel that bring out the colours. No matter how many times I try, I know it can’t be bettered.”
32 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER JANUARY 2009
“No matter how many times I try, I know this picture can’t be bettered”