Z8 Story time: My first Dakar Rally
This is a different kind of Story time. My personal projects usually cover people with peculiar jobs, this time I will tell you the story of my job at the Dakar Rally and a little bit about the team I’ve worked with.
Many people asked how I ended up shooting at the Dakar Rally this year and the truth is that it’s been a long chain of events that led to this, but that’s a story for another time. This story is about my experience as a photographer at a rally famous for being the toughest in the world. It’s about our “rally during the rally”.
The stress was real. I could almost touch it. The anticipation, the preparation and all the logistics leading up to this event finally materialised when I landed in Al’Ula after 3 long flights over New Year’s Eve.The moment was both a relief and an exhilarating start.
I was worried about way too many things, quite normal for me, but this was on a different level. I had so many things to prove to so many people, especially to myself.
I knew I can do this. I hoped I can also enjoy it.
My trip started on December 31st. I cooked all day before flying out to make sure the loved ones felt my presence. I spent the New Year’s Eve in a hotel in Milan during a layover with Thierry Sabine’s quote in mind “A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind”.
If you search online for the Dakar Rally, you would probably find information like “The rally is an off-road endurance event. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day. The rough terrain, driver fatigue, and lack of skill usually results in accidents and serious injuries.” But it’s so much more than that!
So here I am in Al’Ula and it feels like I landed on Mars. I can feel my heart exploding of enthusiasm and excitement but there’s no time for that, it’s time to get to work.
Ten minutes later I meet the team in the media center, get my accreditation badge and went straight to work. We’ve worked together during two smaller events before, but this was the real test. They took a chance by bringing me in the team, and I was ready to rock’n’rolla.
There were six of us on the team, divided into two cool desert-ready cars. Edoardo, Cristiano, Matteo, Attila, Lorenzo — the five Italians — and myself.
Most of the time I shared the car with Edo, Matteo and Lorenzo. We drove thousands of kilometres, would always go to the same areas to shoot, we would find a place to camp over night and drink our coffee together in the morning.
Lorenzo
Our guardian angel, driving us for hundreds of kilometres every day while we were editing the daily shoot in our very uncomfortable racing seats. He covered our basics, making sure we stay hydrated and have everything we need out in the desert. He didn’t speak any English, I didn’t speak much italian, so obviously we got along very well. Most of the times you don’t need many words. Always smiling, always helpful, there to make sure we have everything we need.
Matteo
This was his 3rd Dakar. A very talented photographer, extremely hard working, a team player. A very chaotic but organised guy, he would never find anything and always lose something. On the flip side, his workflow was super efficient, impressively finding any client through thousands of photos in a matter of seconds.
Edo
Our seasoned team member, played the role of a mentor and a father figure. With a passion for photography that I deeply admire, he has more experience in the business than anyone I know. His work ethic, meticulous day planning, and expert desert driving skills reflect the years he's dedicated to his job.
Edoardo, or Edo, as everyone calls him, is o an incredibly down-to-earth person. Treating everyone as equal, he has been covering the Dakar Rally for an impressive 15 years, starting from its days in South America. His trusty car, La Rosa, has been a witness to so many adventures.
A typical day of work
The organisers tried very hard to keep the tracks unknown until the very last minute. For this reason, every evening we — all the media teams — would only receive coordinates of different locations called proximity points. We had to pick one based on minimal information, then drive hundreds of kilometres in the night to the chosen place and camp there. Most of the time, we slept in wild, remote places, under the stars.
Early in the morning, right before the start of the first rider, we would get the exact coordinates of the photo point. We would navigate offroad to this exact point where most of the shooting for the day would take place.
We would shoot action until all competitors passed by, then we would drive to the next bivouac (which was never close.. usually 400-500 km away). During this time we would edit and deliver photos to all the clients. Both were a challenge. The racing seats were super uncomfortable and the internet was a scarce luxury. We would stop in any place with decent internet connection because the signal was as rare as Diesel fuel in Saudi.
Many, many hours later we would reach the bivouac. It was time for dinner, shower if time allowed, and off to the next proximity point.
Sleep was another scarce luxury.
We averaged 4 hours of sleep per night during the 2 weeks sleeping in tents. I became a very efficient robot, expert in setting up my tent at night, very fast in packing everything up in the morning. To my surprise, I enjoyed this part of the experience a lot, sleeping in a tent out in the desert, stargazing for a while before going to sleep, the complete silence of the night, the cold mornings, the smell of instant coffee, the breathtaking sunrises.
I swapped cars for two days and spent some time with the other guys, Cristiano and Attila.
They seemed to also get along very well and have fun together.
Attila
For most people, their happiness level goes down as tiredness & stress go up. Not for Attila. Always happy, his favourite question is, you guessed it: “Are you happy?” and he’s not to shy to use it all the time.
Cristiano
He faced some tough luck. In the last three days of the rally, he developed muscle pain in his legs, and one morning, he woke up with his ankle swollen like a watermelon. Despite the challenges, he tried his best to push through, and I can imagine it wasn't easy, especially with all the walking on diverse terrains. Hats off to him for not giving up.
The Empty Quarter
Without a doubt, the most impressive part for me was the Empty Quarter. The largest stretch of desert in the world, it’s the size of France and has no population. It’s a vast sea of huge dunes, pure beauty.
It was in this place where the rally held the “Chrono” stage, a marathon of 600Km of dunes across 48h.
We reached the proximity point at the edge of the Empty Quarter late at night. We woke up the next morning to some incredible vistas. I was speechless.
We were surrounded by dunes unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Giant mountains of untouched sand. It was such a mesmerising view. Riding this terrain seemed impossible. It was a very tough stage for all the competitors, many abandoned the rally during this stage, many broke the vehicles, some were even stranded in the desert over night. All these aside, everyone agreed this place was just magical.
Three weeks seemed to fly by. We were dancing between all kinds of busy. Even the occasional stops for a break or refuelling were never quiet. People would always come to greet us and admire La Rossa (Edo’s car), take pictures with us or just chit-chat in bad english. After a while, I became too lazy to answer the boring question “where we are from?”. The guys would say Italy, so I became italian for the rest of the rally. Nobody knew much about Romania anyway, except football and ”Radoi”.
Jump three times and scream out loud
During the last stage of Dakar, we split the team so we would be able to cover all major events of the day. I would shoot action, Matteo and Edo would shoot at the finish line while Cristiano covered the arrivals on the podium in the bivouac.
Our brazilian friends agreed to help us so I shared the car with one of their photographers. Later we went to the grand finish line to pick up the rest of them and go to the bivouac.
As always, I was in a hurry to edit and send photos to the biggest clients. I got in the car, got my cards out and started doing my thing.
At the finish line I got off the car to move my backpack and make space for the other guys. One of my cards was in my lap, it fell down in the sand, without me noticing. I realised this 10km later. I instantly knew what happened. I lost the day’s work, I got black in front of my eyes and my heart started racing. I screwed up bad, this was the rookie mistake I was trying so hard to avoid.
We went back to search for the card. We were looking for a needle in a haystack but through some magnificent luck, the needle was found this time. The price for this was a mini heart attack I had.
Still stressed out, I got back in the car.
“What are you doing, we are not going anywhere. You need to get out of the car now, jump 3 times and scream”.
My first thought was “Well this is stupid, I’m not doing this…” But they were not taking no for an answer.
So I did it.. and it felt amazing. All the pressure and the stress was instantly gone and it felt so damn good. Apparently this is some brazilian wisdom and they even have a word for this, but I forgot it. I only remember it works and I will do this if I ever end up in a similar situation.
The overall experience was absolutely amazing. Even with so much work to do, there were so many little moments to share and enjoy. The security guy at the Media Center always greeting me with a big smile, the guy who wanted to learn how to say “My brain is as small as a walnut” in every possible language, the brazilian guys for always popping jokes, the South American guy that would record out loud the highlights of the day in Spanish and as soon as he would get it right, everyone in the media center would start clapping and so many more.
I want to thank my italian team! Edo, Matteo, Lorezno, Cristiano, Attila. You guys made my experience unforgettable.
I had great support from my family, boyfriend and friends.
Nikon Romania were all so excited for me and helped me in every way they could.
Every single little action and good thought from these people, led to this amazing experience I had at Dakar 2024. And this is just the beginning!
Back when all this started, Edo told me:
“When all this madness is finished, you will feel a void in your chest and won’t know what to do with your life, but don’t worry it will go away In few days and life will go on.”
He was right.
Shot on Nikon Z8 /Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8, 24-70mm f2.8 14-30mm f4.
Backstage photos by: Edoardo Bauer, Matteo Gebbia, Murilo Mattoss, Duda Bairros, Marcelo Machado
