Our photographers of 2016

Words by Terry Hawes
Photography by Marshall Kappel,
Sean Hardy, Chris Auld, Jack Chevell,
Simon Gill, Xavier Young
and Nic Stevenson

Part of the Simpson ethos has always been to encourage and nurture new talent. 2016 saw us work with new and established photographers capturing the very essence of this beautiful sport.

The standard of Marshall Kappel's work has always remained consistently high, it's seen by many as the benchmark in cycling photography. Issue 10's wraparound cover image of Ian Stannard truly sums up the agony and the ecstasy of modern era one-day classics such as Paris-Roubaix. So it seemed only right and proper to feature an exclusive interview with Marshall in our Milestone edition.

Sean Hardy's approach to any photographic assignment we've sent him on is one of utter professionalism, dedication and commitment. From his first commission for us - our pro team bike feature in issue 9 - we knew Sean was an awesome talent in the making. Since then he's captured life behind the scenes with Cannondale Pro Cycling for issue 10 and has gone on to shoot issue 11's cover story, the charismatic Graeme Obree, as well as the Drops women's cycling team. 

Following a 20-year career in advertising and design photography, Chris Auld decided to change course and concentrate instead on covering the sport of cycling. Chris produced some intensely striking images of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London for us earlier this year. 

Stage 7 of the 2016 Tour of Britain offered a sneak preview into the form of the world's finest time trialists ahead of Rio. Jack Chevell's images accurately described the tension between Tony Martin and Tom Dumoulin's pre-Olympic meeting. Jack is also a gifted writer, a special talent covering all editorial bases.

Simon Gill was introduced to us by staff writer Nick Christian. Simon's images from 2016's Giro d'Italia tastefully and sensitively enhanced Nick's opinion piece about podium girls.  

Issue 11 saw the magazine expand its Kit You Can't Do Without section. As we never do product reviews, only recommending things we've personally ridden with, we called upon the talents of Xavier Young to capture a range of products from rear lights to shoes to a bike frame. The brief was never going to be easy but Xavier's approach really got to the heart of what we were looking for.

Nic Stevenson went to encourage and support a friend who signed up for the Urban Hill Climb in London late last year. He took his camera along almost as an afterthought - we were glad he did. His images of the event offer a great insight into the day - see for yourself in issue 11.

The photographic assignments that lie ahead in 2017 will present a new set of challenges for our photographers. We look forward to bringing you more stunning imagery from the world of cycling in the year ahead.