Photos

HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA

Since 1839, the small town of Henley on the River Thames (between Oxford and London) has been annually donning the mantle of rowing capitol of the world. The transformation takes place for five days in late June and early July. And despite the short duration of the legendary crew regatta each year — it offers English society a chance to parade out the latest fashion — in the mode of Ascot in horse racing and Wimbledon in tennis. The women become unusually fashionable, demonstrating cutting edge designs for clothes and hats, and the Jaguars and Rolls Royces are brought out for tailgate parties.

This is the second photo I am posting at TE in the Henley Royal Regatta series, the earlier one offering another aspect of Henley life, that from the vantage point of the rowers. The young woman here is a spectator, a sister of one of the rowers. The lettering on the on the deck chair, “HRR,” identifies the chair as belonging to the organizers of the Henley Royal Regatta.

This is an old slide, scanned to reveal the pomp and circumstance of Henley, and not a very sharp slide at that. The camera was a Nikon-2020, loaded with Kodachrome-64 slide film. I cropped and increased the contrast, while reducing the noise. This and the earlier “Henley” should be taken in concert to feel the atmosphere of the regatta. To feel the larger sense of the rowing world, please take a peak at a photo of the Princeton University Crew I posted three months ago.