The late photographer Bernard Cahier was born in Marseille, France, on June 20, 1927. He was an adventurer from his young days, fighting as a volunteer in WW2 when he was only seventeen, traveling to Cameroon and then to California in 1948 where destiny caught up with him: his first job was working together with Phil Hill selling foreign sports cars in Hollywood, and he married a California girl named Joan. He caught the racing virus, and decided to become a photojournalist. His first assignment was the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, 1952. Equipped with his Leica 3F and then 3G's, he soon became a full time international journalist and photographer, as well as the friend and confidant of drivers who would become legends. He's been called the "Cartier-Bresson of Motor Racing" due to his uncanny ability to snap the right moment. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. From the 50s through the 70s, he was everywhere, covering both F1 and Sportscar races, in the days when most drivers competed in both, collaborating with innumerable magazines around the planet. He also raced in a number of race events, notably Sebring, the Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio (he won the overall GT category with Olympic Ski Champion Jean Claude Killy on a factory Porsche 911 in 1967). He founded the IRPA (International Racing Press Association) in 1968 and remained its president until he retired in 1985.