Where's My Lunch? Last Orders II
Montana, USA – 2018
“The Jersey Lilly is the most authentic and isolated “Final Frontier” saloon bar I know in America. Based in the town of Ingomar, Montana (population 12), it is a long way from anywhere. In fact, there is no store or fuel within a 45-minute drive north, south, east or west. It truly is the “last chance saloon”.
My fixer in Montana spoke to the owner – a cowboy rather splendidly called “Boots” – and he agreed that we could use the interior and exterior for filming on a Monday and Tuesday in the early summer – when the bar itself would normally be closed. Permits were also secured with the local authorities to allow us to film in the bar with a tamed bear.
I did a reconnaissance the previous Saturday – a good three hour round trip from Billings, Montana – to check the light and the bar’s interior. It was clear that there was potential to tell a “wild west” story, but equally I would have very little depth of field in any photograph I took – the window light was okay, but not overly generous. I was drawn to the number of animal heads on the wall and in particular the massive bison in the top corner seemed a great prop to play with, albeit I needed a composition to show it off.
Roxana Redfoot from Dallas, Texas is a star – she is smart, as well as striking and can play any character role. On this occasion, her role was within her comfort zone – a sassy and smokingly sexy saloon bar maid with a no-nonsense approach to over eager customers. The customer, Adam – a 1000 lb brown bear – is not normally aggressive but working with him is far from easy – as he does not speak English. Roxanna showed no anxiety and was theatrical and focused from start to finish. Her eyes had to tell a story.
For my part, I had a preconception and an image in my head. It was vital to me that both the bear’s head and Roxy’s head had to be equidistant from my camera lens – which probably meant that they had to be looking at each other. I knew that we would have a limited window of opportunity as Adam was not going to play the role for long – he gets bored easily. Luckily the rabbit behind the bar kept him focused for longer than I expected.
The vast majority of shots did not work for one reason or another – my focus, the bear’s head position or the interaction between the two characters. But this one image is a gem. The American Wild West – you cannot beat it as a canvas on which to paint a playful vignette.“
-David Yarrow
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 Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (Colour)
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“Established in 1937, the Million Dollar Cowboy bar in Jackson, Wyoming is one of America’s landmark honky tonks. Its authentic western vibe draws hundreds of visitors a day and yet despite this fame, the joint retains a folksy charm. That is quite a trick. It is the epicentre of the Jackson Hole community and probably always will be.
Clint Eastwood has acted in the bar (Any Which Way You Can), Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr have sung there and I thought it was high time we filmed there. I was drawn to the ageless facade of the bar, with its retro neon lighting and famous rotating cowboy on horseback sign on the roof. My creative pondering never departed much from the premise that this backdrop offered a definitive sense of place and had to be paid homage to.
Neon lights don’t do themselves justice during the day, but as the bar is busy until closing, 365 days a year, shooting at night offered challenges. The solution was to film at 5.30 am and, on the morning of the shoot, this offered some bonuses as there was fresh snow and a temperature of 0°F. This extreme cold allowed the exhaust fumes from the Ford Bronco to add more drama to the set.
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56″ x 64″ in (142 x 163 cm)
- Framed Image: 71″ x 79″ in (180 x 201 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 42″ in (94 x 107 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 57″ in (132 x 145 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 Million Dollar Cowboy Bar
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“Established in 1937, the Million Dollar Cowboy bar in Jackson, Wyoming is one of America’s landmark honky tonks. Its authentic western vibe draws hundreds of visitors a day and yet despite this fame, the joint retains a folksy charm. That is quite a trick. It is the epicentre of the Jackson Hole community and probably always will be.
Clint Eastwood has acted in the bar (Any Which Way You Can), Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr have sung there and I thought it was high time we filmed there. I was drawn to the ageless facade of the bar, with its retro neon lighting and famous rotating cowboy on horseback sign on the roof. My creative pondering never departed much from the premise that this backdrop offered a definitive sense of place and had to be paid homage to.
Neon lights don’t do themselves justice during the day, but as the bar is busy until closing, 365 days a year, shooting at night offered challenges. The solution was to film at 5.30 am and, on the morning of the shoot, this offered some bonuses as there was fresh snow and a temperature of 0°F. This extreme cold allowed the exhaust fumes from the Ford Bronco to add more drama to the set.
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56″ x 64″ in (142 x 163 cm)
- Framed Image: 71″ x 79″ in (180 x 201 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 42″ in (94 x 107 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 57″ in (132 x 145 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.
Poker Nights
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 2025
“Poker was as integral a part of cowboy life in the long winter nights as it was around a campfire in the summer. It was the most common form of entertainment – especially if those cowboys could neither read nor write. There was also, of course, a transactional element to the activity; money would meaningfully change hands.
The problem in Wyoming, however, was the state outlawed gambling in 1901. But the iconic Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole never really bothered with that too much. In the 1940s, customers entering the bar were greeted with roulette craps and poker tables throughout the main room. Meanwhile, big stakes poker games were held in the back. It was a little Las Vegas as much as it was a watering hole and the use of space was a brazen affront to the law that played to the lore of the loosely governed wild west.
In 1951, Wyoming’s gambling crack down spread to the last stronghold – The Cowboy Bar – and when the bust came, early one Tuesday morning, there were apparently over 100 slot machines in operation. The Attorney General said of the raid “Jackson was one of the last bad spots and this probably winds it up”.
The bar would go on to reinvent itself into the iconic music and dancing venue that it is now. But fabulous stories of this illicit gambling den remain for us all to enjoy. Apparently, one roulette wheel was fixed with numerous magnets hidden under the table, which allowed the dealer to determine the winning number. The owner, at the time, was an electrician and he thought the customers were fair game.”
– David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Print Size: 56″ x 94″ in (142 x 239 cm)
- Framed Size: 71″ x 109″ in (180 x 277 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Print Size: 37″ x 62″ in (94 x 157 cm)
- Framed Size: 52″ x 77″ in (132 x 196 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.
El Rancho
Durango, Colorado
Archival Pigment Print
Most American mountain towns have a saloon that is such an integral part of the fabric of the community, that the owners are bestowed special status in town. It is a long-standing irony of final frontier main streets that they cannot survive without law and order, but equally they cannot survive without the watering holes in which that law and order deteriorate. These bars tend to have longevity, along with a whiff of notoriety. The longer the bar has opened its doors to the public, the more chance that it has hosted every type of vice imaginable.
El Rancho in Durango, with its secret underground tunnels that hosted gambling, prostitutes and illicit liquor trafficking, is one such bar and its owners, Chip and Chris Lile, are popular figures in town. It has a palpable vibe to it, which is elevated by the wall murals and the tree’s branches that fuse seamlessly into the Brunswick bar. In its 80-year life, the walls of El Rancho have seen most things and the underground caves have presumably seen an awful lot more. From a photographic point of view, the ambient light during the day is very generous at the street side part of the bar and that allowed me to freeze the big black wolf as he strolled down the bar. It was a fleeting moment in a lauded watering hole.
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 90” in (142.2 cm x 228.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 105” in (180.3 cm x 266.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 60” in (93.98 cm x 152.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 75” in (132.1 cm x 190.5 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.
Untamed
Telluride, Colorado- 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“Established in 1885, the saloon at the New Sheridan in Telluride, Colorado plays to the lore of the loosely governed Wild West. A great deal has gone on in this building over the last 140 years and I sense that not much of it would have earned the participants an easy stairway to heaven. The irony is, that given the bar sits at an altitude of 9200 feet, the alleged climb would be considerably shorter than most. The saloon has the whiff of vice and is probably all the better for it. It was a place where only four generations ago, saloon girls and grizzly gold prospectors bettered each other’s lives night after night.
In 1889, just one building down from the New Sheridan saloon, Butch Cassidy staged his first bank robbery. He and three mates ran off with $31,000 from the San Miguel Valley Bank – a load of cash in those days. There were no lawmen in sight, it was very much The Wild West. In my giddy western revisionism, I always demand strong faces and this tableau is a narrow smorgasbord of Western archetypes. The calculus involved in the casting and then the composition of that cast in a single vignette is vital if we are to pay effective homage to famous saloons such as the New Sheridan. It is a good canvas on which to tell stories.
Attention to detail in placing cast members is the epicentre of what we do and I think we have learnt from our many mistakes over the years. Everyone in this photograph has earned their place at the table and what a good dinner table that would be. There would be little in the way of moral compass, but there would be a dogged determination and a pursuit of the American dream. There is much to applaud in those attributes.
This was my first time working with Kelsey Asbille – a key cast member in the iconic Yellowstone series and a delightful and down to earth actress. She brought great energy to the set as well as her South Carolina charm and many stories of the excellence of Taylor Sheridan’s direction. I was keen not to be seen as a regression and that was a tough order. Kelsey knows the camera well and the camera loves her. Her eyes were my single point of focus and I asked her to look untamed. She delivered that look for sure as, indeed, did everyone else.
I want to thank Ray Farnsworth – the proud owner of the New Sheridan Hotel and its famous saloon – for hosting our crew and looking after us all so well. Do stay there: the staff are delightful; the food is excellent and it is no longer untamed.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 98” in (210.8 cm x 248.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 113” in (248.9 cm x 287 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 65” in (93.98 cm x 165.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 80” in (132.1 cm x 203.2 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 White Elephant Saloon
Fort Worth, Texas – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“It’s a tough one, as there are so many contenders in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas. From a filming perspective, we are drawn to bars with depth and then it helps if the walls and ceilings are elaborately embroidered with authentic props that emphatically play to a western vibe. They need to have history and a lore.
But these are not really demanding qualification rules, and we need some stronger filters. For a start, we think that the saloon must have hard liquor available at breakfast and the bar staff should greet early customers with a smile that suggests a sense of partnership throughout the day.
The door policy should be accommodating to men with no cultural refinement and women with no moral compass and allow cowboy capitalists to mingle freely with outlaws, cattle wranglers and enthusiastic pole dancers. The only real restriction, is that entry is conditional on wearing a decent and well worn cowboy hat.
I think, however, the best cowboy bars must be in towns that are fabled cattle towns. If there is not a hint of manure in the air, at the very least, there should be some steers within a rope’s throw of the entrance. It would also help these days if Taylor Sheridan is a regular.
These new criteria materially narrow down the candidates and all roads now lead to Fort Worth, Texas. Our favourite cowboy bar is, of course, The White Elephant in the heart of the famous old stock yards.
We want to thank Tim Love and his excellent team for partnering with us on this project, and we look forward to visiting next time as customers. My team will all pass the door policy.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 83” in (142.2 cm x 210.8 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 98” in (180.3 cm x 248.9 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 55” in (93.98 cm x 139.7 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 70” in (132.1 cm x 200.7 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.
Rack 'em Up (Colour)
Kanaan Desert, Namibia – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“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.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 53” x 103” in (134.6 cm x 261.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 68” x 118” in (172.7 cm x 299.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 72” in (93.98 cm x 182.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 87” in (132.1 cm x 221 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.
Rack 'em Up
Kanaan Desert, Namibia – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“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.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 53” x 103” in (134.6 cm x 261.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 68” x 118” in (172.7 cm x 299.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 72” in (93.98 cm x 182.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 87” in (132.1 cm x 221 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.