Bad Asses II (Colour)
Kanaan Desert, Namibia – 2024
“This photograph has been in my head for many years. We have taken our fair share of bad ass pictures of girls in cars in America, but I always wanted to extend my reach to Africa and introduce a Mad Max type narrative. Rather than working in the mountains with snow, as we often do, it was time to work in the desert with sand.
I knew my girl for the shot – Cara Delevingne – and I knew that the hugely respected Naankuse Sanctuary in Namibia often work their cheetahs with film crews, and then I also knew the Kanaan desert well. But I needed a central prop to hold the whole idea together. I needed something of substance.
I had long deliberated over building a bar marooned in the middle of the desert. Not just a two-dimensional facade of a bar, but an actual functioning bar, with lights, cooling machines and entertainment.
I confess that there was quite a bit of talking to myself about the risk reward ratio and I became all to mindful of Walt Disney’s famous advice of “stop talking and start doing”. I like to have creative courage and be bold.
So, I threw my fears away and we built our bar in the desert. It is so damn good that we are going to keep it there for tourists to visit and perhaps have a cold Namibian lager. It was not a small building job and six lorries full of wood and corrugated iron made the eight-hour trip south from Windhoek. I have never worked with a more willing bunch of people in my life than the Namibian production team and they had earned the right to be very proud of The Desert Inn.
In a tableau photograph like this, I want to be greedy and broaden the story: the barman and the bushman on the far right are the little details that help. Cara looks sensational and, of course, that split second pose from the cheetah makes the photograph what it is.
It is a bad ass shot for sure and it is also a bad ass bar.”
-David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 20, 3 AP, 1 EP
- Image Size: 49" x 103" in (124.46 cm × 261.62 cm)
- Framed Image: 64" x 118" in (162.56 cm × 299.72 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20, 3 AP, 1 EP
- Image Size: 37" x 78” in (93.98 cm × 198.12 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 93" in (132.08 cm × 236.22 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Silverback
Africa – 2017
Available Sizes:
Large - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Unframed Size: 56" x 77" (142 x 196 cm)
- Framed Size: 71" x 92" (180 x 234 cm)
Standard - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Unframed Size: 37" x 51" (94 x 130 cm)
- Framed Size: 52" x 66" (132 x 168)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Killer (Colour)
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 20
- Image: 56" x 92"
- Framed: 71" x 107"
STANDARD: Edition of 20
- Image: 37" x 60"
- Framed: 52" x 76"
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The King's Speech
South Africa – 2022
“Most tight portraits of lions, including mine, disappoint either because the camera is above the lion’s eye, or the distance between camera and subject is further than one would like or perhaps the lighting conditions compromise the textural detail. In most cases, it is all three of these issues and this is no surprise as lions do not live in studios and are also extremely dangerous.
The opportunity to take this portrait of the most handsome lion in Kevin Richardson’s sanctuary in South Africa came about because of the cave that we had built for our Daniel project. There was just one source of light from the opening behind my cage and by the time the light reached Yame’s face it was even and kind. This allowed me to glorify the detail in a lion’s face in a way that I have never previously been able to do.
My preference is for his look to be head on and symmetrical.I knew that even the most marginal of compositional imbalances would have a visual impact and the key was to be patient and retain concentration at all times. If I put the camera down, or had a breather, there would be every chance I would lose the moment of a true 180 degree face off.
The result makes me happy. It conveys regality, beauty and wisdom – all leading characteristics of adult lions. They are the Kings of Africa and I think in those precious moments in the cave, Yame had quite a lot to tell me.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 66" x 56" (168 x 142 cm)
- Framed: 81" x 71" (206 x 180 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 44" x 37" (112 x 94 cm)
- Framed: 59" x 52" (150 x 132 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
White Mischief
South Africa – 2017
“Indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa, white lions are now extremely rare – they are the stuff of children’s fables rather than day to day reality in the bush. White lions need help to survive as a breed.
My friend Kevin Richardson, The Lion Whisperer, still looks after a few, although his favourite white lion in the sanctuary, Thor, was killed by a lightning strike – a perverse twist of fate given that Thor is the god of thunder and lightning. That tragic strike suggested the work of higher powers.
When I first saw this white lioness, her colouring, or indeed lack of it, had a profound and immediate visual impact on me. She was as much a mythological beast as she was a modern day cat. It struck me that we needed to build the narrative around the fact that she was so white. Nothing else really mattered – she should look haunting and ethereal.
I could be nowhere near the camera when we worked this image – these lions are dangerous and big. I operated the remote from at least 60 yards away, but I prefocused precisely on the ridge as I wanted no context other than the fluffy white clouds. This composition I felt would further enhance the sense of a fairytale.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 58" (142 x 147 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 73" (180 x 185 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 38" (94 x 97 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 53" (132 x 135 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Waterworld
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2023
“I want my animal portraits to glorify through proximity. It is that proximity that offers the texture and aesthetic strength and allows a close image to transcend one taken from a more sensible distance. At the margin, it makes all the difference to be close and not magnify too much.
The riddle of proximity is one with answers, it just requires experience and collaboration. I was protected from this lion by the strongest of steel cages, so whilst there was a gap for the camera, there was nothing like the necessary gap for a lion’s head.
These set ups should never be tried in normal situations as so many things can go wrong and this occasion was only enabled by the skills of Kevin Richardson -The Lion Whisperer. Without Kevin, there is no chance of a picture and every chance of some degree of danger.
I am not sure if this picture could have been taken 10 years ago for two reasons. Firstly, my relationship with Kevin was nascent and we now trust each other implicitly. Pictures like this require mutual trust. Secondly, cameras now have so much more capability than 10 years ago and we continue to leverage this to the full. It would be folly not to.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 84" (142 x 213 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 99" (180 x 251 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 56" (94 x 142 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 71" (132 x 180 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Book of Daniel
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2022
“Good creative ideas are only as good as the execution and when I conceived the idea of a literal photographic depiction of Daniel in a cave with wild lions, I recognised that pulling it off in the field would be as examining a production challenge as anything we had undertaken.
The fact that we ended up with this image – a career highlight – is testimony to the skills of many South Africans with whom we collaborated on this project, none more so than Kevin Richardson, The Lion Whisperer. It was his behavioural understanding of specific lions within his famous sanctuary that gave me the confidence to even consider emotionally and financially investing in my mad idea. We have worked with each other for over eight years now and have developed a mutual trust. To build a cave and work from within that cave with wild lions is not a brief for a nascent relationship between artist and lion whisperer.
We both agreed that pivotal to the success of the final image was that
the lions we worked with should be interacting with each other and not me. If they were looking at me in the front of my heavy-duty cage, it would suggest
encroachment and the involvement of another party. There were no third party witnesses to Daniel in the cave, other than spiritual ones.
The lighting was also key and we needed time to look at various options to create the shaft of light. Without a light shaft, the sense of being in a cave would be diminished as opposed to amplified. It was this feature that would also add to the biblical vibe of the photograph which was essential; after all, we were working from the Bible. The low trajectory of the winter sun in Kevin’s conservation was in our favour and suggested that between 9 am and 10 am the light shaft could have the right angle so long as the hole in the cave’s ceiling was accurately positioned.
The plan was that Daniel was the final piece in the jigsaw and we would only bring him in when all else was done, albeit I had a precise position for him in my mind. Kevin’s lions would not show any mercy to our modern-day Daniel and we would never suggest that this image was anything less than two pictures combined.
Good things take time and I always knew this would be a three-day project for me on location. The predictability of the winter weather in the region was a key asset; the cloudless skies gave us identical light day after day and that then gave us optionality and time.
But for others the project was a month, not three days, and I am full of gratitude for the artistic skills of those that made the cave and the attention to detail of the production team led by Theuns De Wet in Johannesburg and Tom Williams in London. From start to finish, this was a team effort and all involved will, I hope, share my pride in the final outcome. I know Kevin does, and that is always the acid test.
There is absolutely nothing in this image I would change and it is authentic for sure. I doubt the idea can ever really be copied, but good luck to anyone that gives it a go. The cave has gone.
Normally our work is in black and white, but I just can’t decide whether I prefer the colour option, so on this occasion there are editions of both.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 98" (145 x 249 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 113" (180 x 287 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 65" (94 x 165 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 80" (132 x 203 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Book of Daniel (Colour)
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2022
“Good creative ideas are only as good as the execution and when I conceived the idea of a literal photographic depiction of Daniel in a cave with wild lions, I recognised that pulling it off in the field would be as examining a production challenge as anything we had undertaken.
The fact that we ended up with this image – a career highlight – is testimony to the skills of many South Africans with whom we collaborated on this project, none more so than Kevin Richardson, The Lion Whisperer. It was his behavioural understanding of specific lions within his famous sanctuary that gave me the confidence to even consider emotionally and financially investing in my mad idea. We have worked with each other for over eight years now and have developed a mutual trust. To build a cave and work from within that cave with wild lions is not a brief for a nascent relationship between artist and lion whisperer.
We both agreed that pivotal to the success of the final image was that
the lions we worked with should be interacting with each other and not me. If they were looking at me in the front of my heavy-duty cage, it would suggest
encroachment and the involvement of another party. There were no third party witnesses to Daniel in the cave, other than spiritual ones.
The lighting was also key and we needed time to look at various options to create the shaft of light. Without a light shaft, the sense of being in a cave would be diminished as opposed to amplified. It was this feature that would also add to the biblical vibe of the photograph which was essential; after all, we were working from the Bible. The low trajectory of the winter sun in Kevin’s conservation was in our favour and suggested that between 9 am and 10 am the light shaft could have the right angle so long as the hole in the cave’s ceiling was accurately positioned.
The plan was that Daniel was the final piece in the jigsaw and we would only bring him in when all else was done, albeit I had a precise position for him in my mind. Kevin’s lions would not show any mercy to our modern-day Daniel and we would never suggest that this image was anything less than two pictures combined.
Good things take time and I always knew this would be a three-day project for me on location. The predictability of the winter weather in the region was a key asset; the cloudless skies gave us identical light day after day and that then gave us optionality and time.
But for others the project was a month, not three days, and I am full of gratitude for the artistic skills of those that made the cave and the attention to detail of the production team led by Theuns De Wet in Johannesburg and Tom Williams in London. From start to finish, this was a team effort and all involved will, I hope, share my pride in the final outcome. I know Kevin does, and that is always the acid test.
There is absolutely nothing in this image I would change and it is authentic for sure. I doubt the idea can ever really be copied, but good luck to anyone that gives it a go. The cave has gone.
Normally our work is in black and white, but I just can’t decide whether I prefer the colour option, so on this occasion there are editions of both.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 98" (145 x 249 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 113" (180 x 287 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 65" (94 x 165 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 80" (132 x 203 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Nkosi Sikelel' Lafrica
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2014
“This lion is well known locally as ‘Bob Cat’. He is held in great affection in part because of the regality of his black mane and also because of his eighteen years. I was drawn to his mane and also the wisdom elicited by his eyes – there is so much detail in the eye that I could have been his optician.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 58" x 56" (147 x 142 cm)
- Framed: 74" x 71" (188 x 180 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 39" x 37" (99 x 94 cm)
- Framed: 54" x 52" (137 x 132 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Fully Engaged
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2022
“Over the years, I have marginally tweaked my approach to filming lions at Kevin Richardson’s sanctuary in South Africa. Lying flat in my cage in the grasses, I now accept that in their winter, at first light, I am going to get dirty and cold. I want to shoot 20 degrees either side of the rising sun to get some backlight without too much flair. The key variable for me, however, is for there to be a real sense of engagement and that does mean that we need to work close and put full faith in both Kevin and the sturdiness of his cages.
Immersive photography of big cats is not a high percentage game, and we accept that we fail more often than we succeed. The upside is, when everything does work, especially with a handsome male lion like Yame, the rewards are high.
I would be the first to say that in photographs such as this, the credits go to Kevin, the lion and the high- performance camera. I come in equal fourth with the laundry service.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 79" (142 x 201 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 94" (180 x 239 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 52" (94 x 132 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 67" (132 x 170 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.