Tom Burnside began his photographic career as a Time-Life stringer with "Hurricane on Nantucket, 1953," his first published photograph. Fascinated by the challenge of depicting “speed” on film beyond simply panning a camera in sync with a moving object, Burnside honed his technique by combining different cameras and lenses, film and shutter speeds, angles and distances and depth of field to induce a wide variety of visual effects. His work for Sports Illustrated included tennis, basketball and horse shows as well as motorsports, and for Life, a large spread on the Rodriguez brothers at Sebring in 1959.On and off for 15 years beginning in 1954 Burnside chronicled the emerging U.S. sports car racing scene, mostly along the East Coast but with occasional forays west to Elkhart Lake and Eagle Mountain, and as international racing came to the Americas he covered that too: the 12 Hours of Sebring, a Can-Am Race in Bridgehampton, a Players 200 in Mosport, Nassau Speed Weeks, Grand Prix races in Cuba and Venezuela and even one in Puerto Rico. He was in Caracas in 1957 when the Maserati team self-destructed, at Sebring in 1964 when three of Carroll Shelby’s Cobras finished just behind the winning Ferraris and in 1965 when Jim Hall’s Chaparral beat the odds and won it all.
With skill and artistry, Burnside distilled the essence of this “golden age” in close-ups of youthful, carefree drivers in short sleeves and polo helmets as well as in stunning action photos. His depictions of drivers’ body language and facial expressions, of the drama in pre-race prep, pitstops and personal interactions has been called “first-person storytelling of the best kind.” According to Porsche’s Christophorus Magazine, Burnside’s black & white archive is “a veritable treasure of incomparable and irreplaceable photos.” In addition, as one of the first photojournalists to try the newly released Kodachrome with its painfully slow 25 ASA, Burnside’s extensive color record of these early years may well be unique.
Burnside's archivally-printed, limited edition prints have formed several major one-man exhibitions and grace collections in Japan, Europe and throughout the Americas. Six hundred black & white photographs reflecting his insider's view have been collected in the Book: American Racing: Road Racing in the 50s and 60s. His racing photographs and personal reminiscences have appeared in Forza, Christophorus (Porsche's Magazine) and the 2-part French cable TV production "Portago, Un Clochard Magnifique.” His photographs can be seen in numerous publications worldwide.
A native New Yorker and longtime Vermont resident, Burnside recently moved his Motorsport Archive to California.