Man’s
passion
leads
to a
lifetime
of
NASCAR
photography
By
Dwight
Dana
Morning
News
reporter
July
17,
2008
FLORENCE
—
T.
Taylor
Warren,
83,
knew
from
the
time
he
first
got
his
hands
on a
box
camera
in
the
early
1930s
that
he
wanted
to
be a
photographer.
And
that
dream
came
true
for
him
when
he
graduated
from
Rochester
(N.Y.)
Institute
of
Technology
with
a
major
in
photography
and
a
minor
in
color
photography.
Warren’s
brother
told
him
he
was
“messing
with
roaring
roadsters”
while
Warren
was
working
for
a
photo
lab
in
Milwaukee
in
the
1940s.
Warren
went
out
and
took
some
shots
at
the
Milwaukee
fairgrounds.
He
started
making
prints
and
selling
them
to
the
drivers.
He
kept
up
with
the
racing
pictures
after
being
moved
to
another
lab
in
Kansas
City,
Kan.
Then
along
came
Eastman
Kodak
Co.,
which
recommended
Warren’s
talents
to a
Kodak
lab
in
High
Point,
N.C.
Warren
was
getting
much
closer
to
what
real
racing
was
about.
He
made
friends
with
a
public
relations
representative
from
Bill
France
Sr.’s
office
in
Daytona.
France
started
NASCAR.
“I
was
hired
part
time
in
1952
to
shoot
races
on
the
beach
in
Daytona
on
the
weekends,”
Warren
said.
“Then
they
fired
me
at
Kodak
because
they
said
I
was
spending
too
much
time
at
racing
events.
Back
then,
racing
was
thought
of
as a
redneck
sport.”
Warren
took
pictures
of
all
the
NASCAR
pioneers,
such
as
Joe
Weatherly,
Curtis
Turner,
Fireball
Roberts,
Lee
Petty,
Cale
Yarborough
and
others.
And
he
sprang
to
sudden
fame
when
the
Daytona
International
Speedway
—
the
crown
jewel
of
auto
racing
—
opened
in
1959.
It
was
a
photo
finish
between
Lee
Petty’s
1959
Oldsmobile
and
Johnny
Beauchamp’s
1959
Chevrolet.
Warren
caught
the
action
at
the
finish
line
with
a
twin
lens
Rollei
(Rolleiflex)
long
before
the
days
of
camera
motor
drives.
Warren’s
first
time
shooting
a
race
at
Darlington
Raceway
was
the
1952
Southern
500.
The
late
Fonty
Flock
won
the
event
in
an
Oldsmobile.
Known
for
his
unique
racing
attire,
Flock
wore
a
pair
of
flashy
Bermuda
shorts
throughout
the
race.
Warren
is
known
far
and
wide
in
NASCAR’s
photographic
community.
He
is a
familiar
sight
in
his
Goody’s
hat
with
his
camera
strung
around
his
neck.
Jim
Hunter
—
NASCAR’s
vice
president
of
communications
and
a
former
president
of
Darlington
Raceway
—
has
known
Warren
for
decades.
“I
would
say
that
T.
Taylor
is
the
godfather
of
photography
in
NASCAR,”
Hunter
said
during
a
telephone
interview
Thursday
from
his
home
in
Darlington.
“If
I’m
not
mistaken,
T.
Taylor
was
NASCAR’s
first
photographer.
Every
other
photographer
looks
up
to
him.
He
is
always
willing
to
share
his
vast
knowledge
with
the
younger
guys.”
And
Warren’s
not
influential
just
from
a
photographic
standpoint,
Hunter
said.
“T.
Taylor’s
conduct
has
always
been
above
reproach,”
said
Hunter,
who
was
a
journalism
major
at
the
University
of
South
Carolina
in
the
late
1950s.
“He’s
a
nice,
nice
man
who
is
well
respected
and
well
liked.”
Warren
and
Virginia,
his
wife
of
61
years,
live
in
Florence.
They
previously
lived
for
31
years
in
Martinsville,
Va.,
where
they
owned
a
photo
studio.
“Taylor
wanted
to
live
in
Virginia
and
I
wanted
to
live
in
Florida,”
she
said.
“We
split
the
difference
and
moved
to
Florence.
I
bought
the
property
here
without
him
seeing
it.
He
fussed
and
fumed
until
he
saw
it.
It’s
in
the
country,
and
we
have
our
privacy
on
five
acres.”
