Cheetahs
Cheetahs
Namibia – 2022
“Most artists are on journeys to unknown destinations; it is the journey itself that is important. As Robert Louis Stevenson said “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”
On my own journey, I am drawn not just to what is authentic but what is fun. The more fun we can have on set, the more chance that energy permeates through the work and others can have fun too engaging with the results.
I have no wish to be too earnest or pompous in my art; the holy grail is simply to produce work that holds the viewer’s attention and hopefully elicits some emotion.
The Cheetah’s Gentleman Clubs dotted around America may not be at the enlightened end of the performing arts food chain, but they retain a presence and a popularity.
Cheetah’s in Las Vegas is perhaps the most famous strip bar in America and was the inspiration for the late 90s film Showgirls directed by Paul Verhoeven, who also directed Basic Instinct.
I knew I had access to the cheetahs of the animal kingdom in Namibia and it struck me there could be an opportunity to visually marry the animal with the association. Our mixed species bar series started way back in 2015, but we had yet to find the narrative for a cheetah. My intuition was that the set should not have a glitzy Vegas vibe, but rather a rough and tumble Namibian desert aesthetic.
The desert bars I know in Namibia are basic and dusty. Some have makeshift walls of corrugated iron and wooden stick roofs that allows for dappled daylight to enter the boxed room. This was my visual prompt for the set outside Windhoek and then all we needed was a cheetah. We were in the right place, as Namibia has more cheetahs than any other country in the world.
I think everyone enjoyed their day on location in Namibia. It’s sometimes the small things that make the difference and I love the sets of white teeth that can be picked up in the distance. I can’t speak for the club in Vegas, but this bar looks like a good place to spend a few hours at the end of a hot day.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 52” x 102" in (132.08 cm x 363.22 cm)
- Framed Image: 67" x 117" in (170.18 cm x 297.18 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 34” x 67" in (86.36 cm x 170.18 cm)
- Framed Image: 49" x 82" in (124.46 cm x 208.28 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.
Cloud Nine
Aspen, Colorado, USA – 2022
Sitting proudly at 11,000 ft up in the sky, Cloud 9 is the infamous Aspen mountain bar/restaurant that hosts riotous parties during the winter season. The ski run down the hill is often complicated by the amount of alcohol consumed before revelers are reunited with their skis.
Aspen is Shangri-La to both seasoned visitors and residents and Cloud 9, with its dramatic location and reputation for glamour and excess, is a part of the jigsaw making Aspen the most famous Ski resort in the world.
My plan was to film up at Cloud 9 and style it in 1970s clothing as a nod to a period when Aspen really established its reputation as a bohemian paradise for the chic and the celebrated.
I booked two great girls – Brooks Nader – a high energy, live-wire who has worked with me over the last couple of years and then the wonderful Brazilian – Alessandra Ambrosio – the queen of fashion shows and modelling for the last 15 years. She is a joy to work with and has a fun and unassuming disposition despite her fame. There are few models working today that are as loved and respected as Alessandra.
The only problem was that we needed to shoot early in the day before the slopes opened and the day was fixed. We woke up to a blizzard and freezing temperatures.
I think adaptation and flexibility are core to what we do. Perhaps my middle name should be changed to “PLAN B”. I saw the snow as an opportunity not a threat and worked the conditions into the narrative. It was the right call.
All those familiar with Cloud 9 will, I think, smile when they see this photograph. Alessandra was magnificent, as I knew she would be.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 56” x 96” in (142.24 cm x 243.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 111” in (180.34 cm x 281.94 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 37” x 64” in (93.98 cm x 162.56 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 79” in (132.08 cm x 200.66 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 Dogfather
Nantucket, Massachusetts – 2022
The Brotherhood of Thieves, on the tiny old whaling island of Nantucket, is as good a bar as any we know in America from which to tell old stories – and we know quite a few. The ambient light from the window is powerful enough to remove the need for a gaffer and this is such a help when trying to tell tales with a sense of place. The detail in the dog’s face is all lit from the window and this effect lends a sense of timeless drama. This picture could have been taken 50 or 100 years ago rather than April 2022.
Mastiff dogs are among some of the oldest breeds known to humans and were among the first canines to accompany humans on their migrations across the globe. More importantly, for the purpose of this role, their faces have a rather majestic human countenance allowing me to build stories around them. We have worked with many breeds over the years, but for this kind of work, Mastiffs are in a league of their own.
This dog is the boss of The Brotherhood: wise; well read; powerful and sovereign, nothing goes on in this den of thieves without his blessing. He is the Godfather of Nantucket.
I can see him borrowing from Don Vito Corleone:
“Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 56” x 90” in (142.24 cm x 228.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 105” in (180.34 cm x 266.7 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 37” x 60” in (93.98 cm x 152.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 75” (132.08 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.
Bandera
Texas, USA – 2022
I wanted this carefully composed Honky Tonk vignette to have real sense of place; that place being Texas. There are a few hints in the photograph: the Lone Star pool table lighting; the ten working cowboys; the neon guitar on the left and even the air conditioning unit (less common in more northerly cowboy states). Throw in a tall, bad ass women in the foreground and we know we are in Texas.
It is the lighting that makes the photograph and that is down to the big barn doors at Arkey’s that are open during the day. It was this ambient light on the far-left corner that allowed me to work with minimal artificial light and that made all the difference.
There is also a little bit of a ‘Red Dead Redemption” vibe as I am shooting with a wide-angle lens close to the lead, as often seems to be the perspective in the successful video game series. This allows the depth of Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar saloon to be exploited rather than compressed. I avoid distance compression if at all possible, as a sense of space is often as critical as a sense of place.
Bandera, in the Hill Country of Texas, is quintessential cowboy territory and a country music stronghold. Behind my shooting position there is a stage that has been graced by Willie Nelson and Hank Williams and throughout the bar there are historical treasures celebrating one of the most authentic bars we know in the whole of America. There are locations that demand to be worked in and this is a gem for sure. I am very fortunate to have had the chance to create my interpretation of a classic Texan dive and I thank the eponymous owner – Arkey – for his accommodation.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 91” in (142.24 cm x 231.14 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 106” in (180.34 cm x 269.24 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 (132.08 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.
Beer Run
Texas, USA – 2022
Not long after the end of prohibition, Devil’s Backbone in Texas’s Hill Country started to sell beer and became something of a one stop shop destination as drivers could also refuel and buy provisions. The landmark destination, as well as claiming to be the oldest dive bar in Texas, also claims to be the inspiration behind the Garth Brooks’ country music classic “Beer Run”.
There are opportunities to tell stories at the Backbone; I just needed to find a different angle. My plan was to use longhorn steer that are, of course, heavily associated with this part of the world. Austin’s University of Texas is less than an hour’s drive away and even in the UK we know about the Longhorns.
It struck me that there was a chance to bring two stories together as one and see if we could raise the bar in the narrative. If this Honky-Tonk really was the inspiration for the song “Beer Run”, well maybe the steer could be the one responsible for the pick-up. In this most Texan of bars, we could cast the most Texan of ani- mals.
Some ideas are a waste of time because there is absolutely no chance of executing them and this concept did seem a little ambitious. A longhorn steer can weigh up to 1300 pounds and whilst the one we chose was domesticated, this is not the most spacious of bars.
We had to work quickly and compose precisely and I think we pulled it off. I wanted the cowboys to act with total indifference as if this was the most usual of events in Texas, but I instructed the girl on the piano to play up a little. Perhaps she was not a regular.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 84” in (142.24 cm x 213.36 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 99” in (180.34 cm x 251.46 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 56” in (93.98 cm x 142.24 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 71" in (132.08 cm x 180.34 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.
Honky-Tonk Woman
Texas, USA – 2022
Bandera, Texas is the self-appointed home of the cowboy and a visitor is left in no doubt that this is the beating heart of Marlboro country and Marlboro men. This small town in the Hill Country also boasts a bar – Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar – that is as good a honky-tonk bar to film in that I know of. It is also a firm fixture in the country music scene which is core to the culture of this part of the great state. Willie Nelson has sung here, as has Hank Williams, and of course, the owner himself, Arkey Blue.
Three requirements must be met for the saloon to work for me. I need a decent amount of ambient light from a door or a window; I need the décor to have a quintessential dive bar look to it and I need a well-positioned old pool table around which to build the narrative. We did our research in the area and Arkey Blues looked the most promising and the reality when we arrived was even better.
The cowboys had an important role to play in this image, but it wasn’t their toughest day at work. Many had just returned from being wranglers on the set of 1883, which allegedly involved 16-hour days. In contrast, all they had to do in this shoot was be themselves, have a beer and just be a little infatuated with our lead – Roxanna. All quite easy stuff.
I have had this photo in my mind for as long as I started to immerse myself in the cowboy culture of Texas. For those who think this timeless culture may hold the state back, it is worth perhaps remembering that in 2023, Texas will be the 9th biggest economy in the world.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 96” in (142.24 cm x 243.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 111” in (180.34 cm x 281.94 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 63” in (93.98 cm x 160.02 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 78” in (132.08 cm x 198.12 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.
Devil's Backbone
Texas, USA – 2022
Devil’s Backbone makes claim to be “The oldest Dive Bar” in Texas. Situated on an earthquake fault, the historic venue offers spectacular views of the surrounding Texas Hill Country. The history dates back to the late 1890’s, when the first stone room was built for a blacksmith’s shop and a stagecoach stop at the base of a treach- erous trail. After Prohibition, the sale of alcoholic beverages, particularly beer, became licensed in early 1936 and the tavern was built a year later.
In the 1950’s, a service station and package store building was added and shortly after, the dancehall was constructed. The venue became a one stop shop for all that Hill Country cowboys needed including a cold-beer, a tire change and a dance.
I knew there must be an opportunity here for a photograph that could pay homage to the working cowboy and the Backbone’s long history of serving a cold beer. The decor behind the bar and on the ceiling are classic honky-tonk and they demanded some involvement in a vignette.
The cowboy – the most enduring symbol of America, not just Texas – is identifiable by his hat and individual faces in a collective group matter less. Nothing is lost from anonymity if the narrative is true.
That understanding gave me the idea of building a story around the bartender and we had just the right girl with us – Roxanna Redfoot from Dallas, Texas. She is our go to bar girl whether we film with cowboys in Montana or Texas.
The image works; it is Texas through and through and I know the owners and staff of Devil’s Backbone are delighted to be a part it. That makes me happy as they were as good to work with as anyone we have met on our travels.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 92” in (142.24 cm x 233.68 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 107” (180.34 cm x 271.78 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 61” in (93.98 cm x 154.94 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 76” in (132.08 cm x 193.04 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.
8 Ball
West Texas, USA – 2022
I choose to be long of parody, as to exaggerate helps to communicate. My default position is to be bold in any narrative. In this photograph I wanted to fully em- brace the vibe of a honky-tonk bar in Texas, peopled by hard working, hard living cowboys whom David Allen Coe made pivotal to his song writing. These men love a beer, a smoke and a honky-tonk girl, who brings out the masculinity that defines them.
John Steinbeck – the American literary giant – wrote “I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.”
I get it, and cowboy culture is core to that religion. To try to immerse oneself in Texan culture and not spend time with true cowboys is akin to holidaying in Italy and eating at Burger King rather than the local trattoria. The cowboys in this image all play pool, all drink beer, all smoke, all love girls and all have manners. What you see, is what you get.
But I needed a strong lead and Roxanna Redfoot does this so well. She is comfortable with playing bad ass, and she can do it with no real effort, which is why we so often cast her. She is not in character – she is just herself.
Sometimes one person can kill an image, but that evening in Bandera, in the Hill Country of Texas, everyone nailed it. The saloon is the Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar, where so many legendary country music singers have passed by and sang. By the bar downstairs, there is an open door and that gave me the chance to play with a little ambient light.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 81” in (142.24 cm x 205.74 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 96” in (180.34 cm x 243.84 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 53” in (93.98 cm x 134.62 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 68” in (132.08 cm x 132.08 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 Rookie
Montana, USA – 2021
A treasure trove of characters in a dive bar saloon in Western Montana. The question is, who would you want as your partner? Do you go for perceived experience or looks?
The suave gentleman on the left looks the part, but he could be a little callow and raw. It may pay to go with the menace to his left. Looks can be deceiving. The wolf carries an assertive confidence and seems to be holding court, but he is, after all, a wolf. Singer and entertainer Ciara looks too good to be playing pool and surely she can’t have much experience hustling in pool bars? It’s beneath her. But how can you turn her down?
The answer is to go with the character on the left – he is one of the best performing rookies of all time.
Russell Wilson’s Rookie year at the Seattle Seahawks (the 2012 season) was the stuff of legends. He was named NFL Rookie of the Year and took the Seahawks to within one game of the Superbowl. (This despite being 75th in the 2012 NFL draft). He only had to wait 12 months to cement his status.
In early 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks to their first Superbowl victory in which they trounced the marginal favourites, the Denver Broncos, 43 – 8 in New Jersey. This is still the largest ever Superbowl victory for the underdog. The game attracted a viewing audience in America of 111 million which, at the time, was a historical record for a US television broadcast.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 83" (143 cm x 211 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 94" (171 cm x 239 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image: 37” x 55" (94 cm x 140 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 66" (122 cm x 168 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.
Persons of Interest
For this shoot, I took the Seattle Seahawks quarterback and his wife to my favourite shooting location in the world – the Pioneer Bar – high up in the mountains of West Montana. I wanted to be in command of as much as possible and with my intimate knowledge of the location, I knew I could muster together a smorgasbord of western archetypes to complement the rock star American couple. I also know the lighting and the angles inside out. It was a home fixture for me.
My preconception was to build a vignette that lived and breathed cinema whilst playing on the importance of cultural refinement in the Wild West. To that end, I thought it would be playful to dress Russell and Ciara in black tie so as to accentuate the narrative. Finding the extras was easy – they are mostly drinking buddies.
There are no weak characters in this shot; there is simply no room for them. In fashioning together so many ethnicities, I hope his photograph celebrates the diversity of America and reminds us that the pursuit of the American Dream was, and is, inclusive.
Revlon Ambassadors have been filmed in many locations, but perhaps none offer the storied past of the Pioneer Bar. Ciara smashed this look, but I soon discovered, she kind of smashes every look.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 100" (142 cm x 254 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 111" (170 cm x 214 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image: 37" x 48" (94 cm x 122 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 59" (122 cm x 150 cm)
MEDIUM - Edition of 20:
- Image: 45" x 80" (114 cm x 203 cm)
- Framed: 56" x 91" (142 cm x 231 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.