This somewhat dystopian image was not preconceived and came together spontaneously on the day of our shoot in the Namibian desert. The camera angle allows the viewer to explore inside our bar and the picture is all the better for that. It is a proper desert bar, two hours from anywhere of note.
I remember once looking at a book featuring telephone kiosks in unusual places around the world. It was a nice idea and there were some eye-catching visual contrasts in the collection. But telephone kiosks do not tend to play host to people of disposable moral fibre, whereas pool lounges largely do and that is why a pool table is such a good prop; it smacks of the possibility of trouble.
I think if there was a book of pool table images playing to the lore of a sketchy saloon, this photograph would stand a good chance of being front cover. Who could possibly refuse an invitation for a drink and a game of pool at this bar? It has everything you need, including that vague hint of vice.
Cara Delevingne is so much more than just a supermodel. She is a generational talent and a force of nature. In 2024 she played Sally Bowles in Cabaret for a good 10 weeks in the West End. One critic said she played the role as well as Liza Minnelli in the 1971 movie of the same name. And so it was an honour to have her along to The Desert Saloon to shoot some pool and check out the local wildlife.
This whole project was only feasible through our partnership with Rudi and Marlice Van Vuuren and the lauded Naankuse Sanctuary in Namibia.
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