“Collection” is about storytelling, pulling elements from the past and the natural world into the photo frame.
In a day and age where practically everyone has a camera in their back pocket, fine-art photographers have to find a way to stand out. David Yarrow, British photographer and former financier, has managed to make his photographs demand your attention, whether it’s an elephant with the largest tusks, a wolf in downtown Chicago, or Cindy Crawford driving a 953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spyder with a plane ominously hanging above. Yarrow is known for his breadth of work, from nature photography to movie and sports photography.
Right now, his diverse body of work, “The Collection,” is on display at Hilton Contemporary. While there are some of his earlier works including his 2014 “Mankind” depicting a cattle market in South Sudan, much of the focus is on his more recent work, often featuring Wild West and film noir imagery.
In a 2018 interview, Yarrow explained, “You need to have a layered narrative. You have to have something in the foreground whilst maintaining that sense of place.” That commitment to layered storytelling is evident with photos like the 2025 photo “The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar” (Jackson Hole, Wyoming). The classic Western bar was founded in 1937 and many movie stars and singers have performed there. Yarrow manages to capture that Western honky tonk spirit with model Brooks Nader, the wolf and the Ford Bronco.
Yarrow’s commitment to storytelling is evident; many pieces in the show have a description of how the photo was taken. In the 2024 photo “The Outlaws” (Durango, Colorado), Yarrow talked about the challenges of creating the shot with the virgin snow and the horses’ safety. The 2023 photo “South by Southwest” (Amboy, California) is Yarrow’s homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest,” with Cindy Crawford taking on the role of Cary Grant.
These photos are already spectacular and evocative, but the stories make it even richer. For the ones that do not have a description posted, I’m sure there is a description available.
There’s also a sense of humor in Yarrow’s work. For instance, the 2025 photo “Skyfall” pays homage to British and Scottish culture and pop culture. The photo is taken in Glencoe, not far from the house that was featured in the James Bond film “Skyfall,” and features a very Bond-like car. There’s a phone booth, which may or may not be directly referencing Dr. Who, and a pantless model in a Sherlock Holmes-esque tweed. It’s a monumental photo, but it’s also tongue-in-cheek.
Similarly, there’s the 2017 “Sweet Home Chicago” photo that depicts a wolf on a bridge in downtown Chicago. It’s a striking image, a reminder of what Chicago used to be centuries ago and it’s also got humor to it. The wolf and the bridge are not far from Wolf Point, where the branches of the Chicago River meet near downtown Chicago.
Overall, the show is about storytelling, pulling elements from the past and the natural world into the photo frame.
“The Collection: David Yarrow” is on view at Hilton Contemporary, 716 North Wells, through March 30.