A day at the races: Candid shots of Britain’s gamblers
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Martin Amis
“From a fairly young age, I have memories of my father gambling on horse racing,” British photographer Martin Amis remembers. “Whether it be watching on television or a day at the races, watching the GG’s [horses] was part of my childhood.”
The races were a lively affair, with a sea of faces expressing every emotion under the sun. Intense conversations came from all sides, whether it was the punters discussing their horse’s chance or bookmaker’s constant chanting of the latest odds.
“I can recall my father explaining the large amount of jargon associated with racecourse gambling: the odds, the rhyming slang and the mysterious tic-tac men that would relay market moves between bookmakers long before the days when everything was computerised,” Amis says.
“I would always marvel at the sense of trust that existed between bookmakers and punters with large bets often being placed without money changing hands.”
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
“I remember one particular day when we visited our local track Folkestone on a particularly cold winter’s day. You could drive your car right into the centre of the racecourse back then. It was so cold that my father would send me out to place our bets while he remained in the car. As the day went on, we watched much of the race from the warmth of the car. We returned back home with more cash than we took; we always remember the winning days more than the losing.”
The glorious energy and uplifting emotions of those formative years came rushing back in 2005 when Amis picked up the camera and returned to the races as an adult. After making a trip to Bath, he knew his hunch was spot on and from this bet, The Gamblers (RRB Photo Books) was born.
An intimate portrait of the people in the moment, Amis’s photographs have a raw, vibrant edge, perfectly capturing the highs and lows of winning and losing in carefully constructed yet candid shots. Travelling across Southern England to Bath, Brighton, Cheltenham, Epsom, Plumpton, Sandown Park and Windsor, Amis encountered people from all walks of life, capturing quirky personalities and intense emotions.
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
“One of the challenges of photographing during the race, is being positioned in the right spot – it is not easy to predict the winner of a given race, and doubly difficult to pre-empt which members of the crowd have backed the winner and will possibly make for a good photograph,” Amis notes.
“Most punters were largely unaware that they were being photographed, as they are naturally caught up with placing a bet and watching the races. A few people have approached me and asked specifically not to be included, which I always respected.”
The Gamblers is a love letter filled with every emotion imaginable. Without ever saying a word, it explains why people are willing to risk their earnings for something more. The racecourse becomes a place where life can be reduced to a metaphor: most of us are bystanders hoping we backed the right horse.
“There’s a great adrenaline rush when you back a winner, and it is very easy to crave that sensation over and over again,” Amis adds. “I used to gamble often myself, and when you were on a winning streak, it can feel like you can do no wrong.”
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
From ‘The Gamblers’ © Martin Amis courtesy RRB PhotoBooks
The Gamblers is available now on RRB Photo Books.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”
Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026
Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.
Written by: Huck
In photos: The boys of the Bibby Stockholm
Bibby Boys — A new exhibition by Theo McInnes and Thomas Ralph documents the men who lived on the three-story barge in Dorset, giving them the chance to control their own narrative.
Written by: Thomas Ralph
