

Allen R. Kuhn's career as a photographer of sports cars began when
he attended the 1956 Torrey Pines road races as a 17 year-old high
school student. Having won an award, in the Eastman Kodak National
High School photo contest, with a photograph of Fred Woodward in a
Jaguar Special, he became increasingly interested in sports car photography.
This interest lead to his enrolling at a photographic school in
Los Angeles where he spent two years refining his camera techniques
and developing (no Pun) his skills in the darkroom.
Over the next ten years he became the staff photographer for the
Sports Car Journal and California Sports Car Magazine,
shooting at many Southern California road courses.
However, as technology increased and car design changed from the
rolling artistic sculptures of the late 50's and early 60's, Kuhn's
interests also changed. The L.A. Times G.P. for Sports Cars in October
1965 was the last race he covered.
His negatives now were put to rest, for the next 30 plus years,
until a chance meeting with the editor of the Vintage
Racecar Journal (Casey Annis) at the Tustin Thunder vintage
races in Southern California in 1998.
Kuhn then began to bring the long-neglected negatives back to life.
Tom Trabue, winner of the Monterey Cup and the Ken Miles Trophy
at the Monterey Historic, was one of the first people to ask Kuhn
for pictures.
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This
photo of Dan Gurney at Paramount Ranch won first place in the photojournalism
category at both the 1958 L.A. County Fair and the L.A. Trade Technical
Junior College photography shows.
Tom asked if he had any pictures of a Denzel. What the heck is
a Denzel? After searching through almost all of his 5,000 negatives,
he finally came across what looked like a Porsche Speedster, but
not quite. Thus began the searching and printing ritual that has
become his quest—to bring back to life an era now much loved
by an ever increasing number of enthusiasts.
He now has a worldwide list of aficionados who have purchased his
photographs. His work has graced the pages of some of the better
known magazines: Forza, Excellence, Cavallino, Vintage Racecar Journal
and soon to be in Vintage Motorsport.
He also shows his photographs at numerous vintage races and concours.
One of his last shows was the Ferrari
International Meet in Los Angeles, California. He plans to attend
the Mercedes Benz Meet at Newport, Rhode Island, in 2004, thanks
to the kind invitation of Bob Sirna, editor of the Mercedes Benz
National Newsletter.
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