Louis Klemantaski

[1] He was born in what was then Manchuria on 12 February 1912, to a Russian mother and Dutch-born British father of Polish heritage who imported Willys-Overland vehicles into the country.

[2] His love of photography started when he received a camera for his 10th birthday, shortly before the family moved back to Britain for his secondary education and to escape the plague which was spreading in Harbin.

He then did most of the advertising photography for the next 10 years and more, and followed the racing team during a golden period which peaked with the triumph at Le Mans in 1959 and victory in the world sportscar championship.

He published many collections of his photographs during his life, including limited editions such as 'Klemantaski & Aston Martin' with Chris Nixon in 1998, the last one before his death aged 89 in 2001.

[4] In 1989, he sold his entire library to Peter Sachs, who established the Klemantaski collection, combining Louis' work with a dozen other car photographers in an archive which lists in excess of 50,000 motor sport images.