Photographer Calls Out F1 Driver for Having Bad Vibes
A Formula 1 photographer has called out one of the drivers, Alex Albon, for looking down on his profession while revealing he’s stopped taking photos of him.
Taidgh Barron revealed in an Instagram post that he stopped taking photos of the Thai-British driver in March this year but “nobody noticed.”
When asked why, Barron responded: “Mainly his vibe around photographers.” He went on to explain that it “always felt like he looked down on us” and he had grown tired of it.
Barron referenced a Reel that Albon made with his team, Williams Racing, “demeaning photographers”. In it, Albon says photographers have “the easiest job in the world”. Barron says he saw this while lying in a Bahraini emergency room “without health insurance” because he had sustained an injury flying to a race known as economy class syndrome, also known as deep vein thrombosis.
However, in a later Instagram post when a fan suggested that Albon was just joking, Barron doubled down on his response.
“Jokes are fine but this kinda dumbly crossed a line into punching down,” Barron wrote. “It’s like saying that it’s so easy to be a security guard or a bathroom attendant be all they appear to do is just stand around all day, with no clue or novel insight to offer about the human experience of actually working that job. It has to be funny to be a joke.”
Fellow F1 Photographers Don’t Agree
Formula 1 is often described as a “traveling circus” one which the drivers, engineers, and media all traverse the globe together meaning interpersonal relationships are built.
Another F1 photographer, Kym Illman, was asked on his YouTube channel whether Albon is difficult to work with to which the Australian replied that he wasn’t while saying that Albon was simply making a joke.
“I’ve shot Alex for many years now, I talk to him often, I’ve done business with him and I get on well with his family. I can tell you: he is nothing but a gentleman; he is engaging and funny,” says Illman. “Often he’ll react to me and my lens.”
Another F1 photographer who shoots for Getty Images, Mark Thompson, also offered some advice for Barron.
“You my friend need to have more respect! And stop posing as an F1 photographer, posting selfies with drivers is not what professional photographs do! Alex is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever worked with and that list is a long one, stop being a p****!”
“Drivers are under no obligation whatsoever to be nice to the media or acquiesce to any of our requests,” adds Illman.
