North Bend, WA — One of the great things about an event like the 24 Hours of Le Mans is, like the Olympics, it brings you in contact with many different people, and many different cultures. You can not help but leave an event like Le Mans without having a changed perspective.

One of the treats for me at Le Mans was having Laurent Charniaux sit next to Joe and I in the press room. In our short stay at Le Mans, our view of the world was changed in many ways — but one of the best things was getting to know this photographer.

We did not know each other from Adam when I arrived Thursday morning. Laurent is a handsome Frenchman (actually he may be Belgian, so I hope that he is not offended by being called French like Hercule Poirot) with clear eyes and a ready smile. He is tall and lithe and when dressed for the track (at left) it would be easy to mistake him for a driver, except for the load of cameras he is carrying.

He is also a heck of a race photographer. I have worked with and around some really wonderful photographers in my time on this earth — all very talented. However, it was really amazing to see the work that he created at Le Mans. The challenge of covering Le Mans is that it is a week long event — with the race lasting 24 hours — and if you are really going to cover the event, there is not a great deal of time to rest during those final 24 hours. To cover this event requires the endurance of a marathon runner as well as the soul of an artist. Laurent has both

Laurent lives in Avignon, France and spends around a third of year chasing a variety of racing events — mostly on the high profile Formula One Circuit. As this story is being posted, Laurent is in Budapest, Hungary covering the latest race for that series. Over the last month he has been gracious enough to take time from his schedule during the hectic Formula One schedule to answer the following questions.