1992
For some time I had yearned to do my own interpretation of the advert with a still photograph and I secured Cindy’s involvement, who in turn secured Pepsi’s approval (given the implicit tribute, why would Pepsi say “no”?). The Halfway House has not changed at all from 1992 and neither really has Cindy. The rest of the props were easy to replicate.
The issue was the two boys who were never in the same frame as Cindy in the advert and would be even harder to acknowledge or incorporate into one photograph whilst maintaining the narrative. The idea I went along with was to use wolves instead – that way I could introduce a new angle without losing the integrity of the adaptation.
Why wolves? Well it is a metaphor for all the men who have wanted to be at that gas station the next time Cindy Crawford turned up to fill up with gas, or indeed buy a soft drink. I wanted them to be looking keenly towards Cindy and the only way that could work in my set was to have them approaching her from behind. Since the roof was down in the car, it made total sense for them to have stealthily sneaked into the back seats whilst she went about her business. There is the necessary hunger and yearning in their disposition.
Cindy looks fabulous and makes the image which we all agreed had to be in colour. I must make mention of Peter Savic – the legendary hair stylist who worked with Cindy on the original commercial. How lucky am I that 29 years later he came back to the Halfway House for the reunion and styled Cindy’s hair again?
DYP would like to make it clear that the “wolf ” in the image is actually a domesticated Tamaskan dog – which have similar facial characteristics to Wolves.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 84" (143 cm x 214 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 95" (171 cm x 242 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
-
Image size: 37” x 56" (94 cm x 143 cm)
-
Framed size: 48” x 67" (122 cm x 171 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.
American Beauty
On this 1950s set – built in Santa Clarita near Los Angeles – my excellent production team gave me the chance to create something very special. American icon Cindy Crawford would be my lead, so there was a little bit of pressure to be on my game, especially as Cindy had made the location famous from the iconic 1992 Pepsi commercial. The gas station and cafe haven’t changed much and neither, in fact, has Cindy.
My preconception was to use the panel lighting to showcase Cindy in an intense rain storm. The rain would pop much more than it would do in daylight. I could see the potential of the concept; the set, complete with 1950s LA cop cars, was authentic and all the angles worked. There was an intended nod to the wonderful movie – LA Confidential – but the problem was that her period evening glam look would be immediately vulnerable to the rain.
In my creative processing beforehand I had established in my mind that there could not be many retakes of this shoot. Her hair, so intelligently styled by the legendary Peter Savic, would be in trouble after just a few seconds; quickly followed by her evening dress. We had at best 10 seconds to get the shot.
What I knew was that Cindy is a trooper and indeed she smashes this picture. There are few people that would perform so professionally under such circumstances. She is as good as it gets and this picture is made by her, not me.
I would like to thank Cindy’s excellent A team of Peter Savic, Nicole Allowitz, Jennifer Jacobs and Sam Visser. As for Cindy, it is always a treat to work with the very best. A true American Beauty inside and out.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 61” x 56" (155 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 72” x 67" (183 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image size: 40” x 37" (102 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed size: 51” x 48" (130 cm x 122 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.
Americana
The roll out of the road system in America accelerated geographical mobility and the pursuit of the American dream. The country is, and always will be, the home of the road trip. Motorbikes and roadside diners and gas stations became enduring cultural symbols of America.
Meanwhile, the Harley Davidson evolved into an iconic American brand and bikers themselves carved their own archetype and story in a rapidly developing society. There was a spirit of freedom captured so well in the 1969 movie Easy Rider and by bands such as the Eagles, who encouraged us to “take it easy”.
Whilst I did not take this photograph standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and whilst none of the bikers look remotely like Peter Fonda, there is a deliberate nostalgic nod to a freewheeling era in American history. My goal was to make a photograph to elicit memories of the America we once knew.
But this vignette is, of course, completed by perhaps America’s most loved supermodel – Cindy Crawford. We could not possibly use any other person in this shoot, as the set we had chosen was the very diner she made famous in the iconic Pepsi advert of 1992.
There may be no cowboys in this photograph or baseball bats or country music references, but there is enough to make it quintessential Americana.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 56” x 56" (143 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 67" (171 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image size: 37” x 37" (94 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed size: 48” x 48" (122 cm x 122 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 Daily News
Proof again that Cindy Crawford is gold dust for a photographer. She looks quite sensational in this “film noir” piece taken at the very location made famous by her Pepsi commercial in 1992.
My idea was to build a 1950s set and shoot at night; not just to add drama and contrast, but also to legitimize the period evening glam look. One I knew Cindy would excel in.
In the weeks running up to the shoot, I played around with a few possible narratives and I was drawn to the concept of a film set within a film set. I had long admired Peter Lindberg’s work for the Breitling Squad campaign which also played on this theme and I also knew how Hollywood always enjoys work showcasing itself. The nod to Peter Lindberg was apposite as he and Cindy often collaborated together to great effect.
It dawned on me that those with cameras could be press men as opposed to film makers and the narrative could lean on the intense media interest Hollywood stars have long received. Since the Press tend to hang as a pack, I could play on that and throw in a wolf. The premise was that the vignette should live and breathe cinema.
My instincts were that Cindy should be enjoying the attention and her face should glow, not scowl. Over the years I have learnt that she is very comfortable playing a role and the look certainly works here.
The still cameraman in the photograph is Dimitri Dimitrov – Sunset Tower’s much loved and celebrated Maître D. He has had so many cameo roles in Hollywood over the years and I did not want to miss out. Cindy and I were delighted to have him on set – as were my family who adore him.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20
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Image: 56” x 84"
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Framed: 67” x 95"
STANDARD - Edition of 20
- Image: 37” x 55"
- Framed: 48” x 66"
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 Winner Stays
Montana, 2019
It was by pure chance that we found this treasure trove of a saloon bar off a remote country road in Western Montana. Time appeared to have stood still for over 100 years and as an authentic “Final Frontier” canvas on which to tell a story, I have never seen a better room in which to work. There was not one hint of modernity and the wooden and leather finish to the pool table was absolutely remarkable. The attention to detail throughout the bar was exceptional – the Bucking Horse is a labour of love for its owner – a true mountain man called John Crane.
48 hours before Cindy’s arrival, we spent a morning in the bar exploring every angle. The window light was okay, but the ambient light was marginal and it was clear we only had one angle to work with as I could not shoot towards the two windows. Luckily, with my maximum wide-angle lens, we could, from the chosen position, include enough of the bar to do it justice and also major on the pool table – which was the standout feature of the saloon.
The next question was what to do? This is an outstanding location and we needed to do it justice. We knew that the pool table would be critical and if we were to bring a wolf into the mix, he would need to be involved in the game.
On the day of the shoot, Cindy killed it – she was such a presence and that was exactly what I asked for. She owns the bar with her sovereign and authoritative look. I wanted to create a final frontier vignette that had a menacing overlay – no out of towner is coming into this territorial bolthole, playing pool and leaving with the cash. It is Wild West American hustle.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 cm x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 95" (171 cm x 242 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37" x 56" (94 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 67" (122 cm x 171 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.
Hostiles
Montana, USA
We have all, at one time or another, entered a bar and immediately felt out of place. At the most extreme level this can evoke a sense of trespassing. This was very much the narrative behind this photograph. To be greeted by an overtly territorial crew with menace and attitude.
But for the story to work, two things had to coalesce as one – the characters and the interior. I like playing with the cold, it adds a visceral layer to the story and in this case, it hints at an outpost on the final frontier. Surely the further off the beaten track we travel, the greater the chance of being the outsider.
This is a frame that exhausts every inch available in the camera and that was my intent. There were so many characters I wanted to include, but I was also reluctant to lose the mood of the frozen saloon. The icicles on the frosty bison with the snow laden television playing True Grit were key assets that needed to be seen to amplify the sense of cold.
Our key asset was, of course, Cin – dy Crawford and she had to have sovereignty of the joint. She can play a badass very well and that was her ascribed role.
It is not easy for everything to come together in such a tight setting as one tension spot can ruin the whole pas – tiche. It’s akin to camels and the eye of the needle. The wolf ’s paw on this occasion came very close to Cindy’s shot glass, but we got away with it.
The wolf is actually a domestic dog breed called Tamaskan – he is not 100% wolf, but that mattered little, as he merely added to the sense of trespass. The only reason to linger in this bar would appear to be the landlady. Maybe she could be won mover? Who knows, but she certainly owns the image.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20
- Image: 56” x 96”
- Framed: 71” x 111”
STANDARD - Edition of 20
- Image: 37” x 63”
- Framed: 52” x 78”
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.
On The Road Again
Montana, USA
Once we found the caterpillar road that dissects this picture, I knew that we had the canvas on which to continue our road series that started in 2018. The area is so remote that we doubt it has been used as a film location before, certainly not with an American icon as the lead player. The only traffic was the occasional oil worker or perhaps someone that was totally lost.
The next big event north of here is the Canadian border and that’s some 300 miles away. It is not a place to run out of gas. Cindy makes the picture for sure. The styling is perfect and there is such a good energy, cowgirl chic in her manner. This was the intent in the preconception – the two companions were enjoying the freedom of the vastness of the American West. The sense of place is palpable. This is the America that so many know and love, with its long roads running to the horizon with either side exuding a simple sense of calm and solitude. No other country in the world offers road trips as visually rewarding as America and they are integral to the fabric of the American dream.
The snowfall the previous night added another layer to the narrative both on the road itself and on the prairies. We were lucky that the snow stopped and the light picked up. It adds warmth to an image already glowing with positivity and joy. Willie Nelson was surely singing “On the Road Again” on the car radio with the volume turned up to the maximum level. On the road again, Goin’ places that I’ve never been, Seein’ things that I may never see again, And I can’t wait to get on the road again, On the road again, Like a band of gypsies, we go down the highway, We’re the best of friends, Insisting that the world keep turning our way.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56” x 79”
- Framed: 71” x 94”
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37” x 52”
- Framed: 52” x 67”
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.
Unforgiven
Montana, USA
When Cindy Crawford made her iconic Pepsi advert in 1992 for the Superbowl and then repeated it again in 2018, there were a few other constants as well as the model herself – most notably Peter Savic, one of the most celebrated hair stylists in the world. His client roster reads like the ultimate A list in Hollywood. Looking at his CV it would be quicker to mention who he hasn’t worked with.
I had never had the fortune to work with Peter before but my brief time with him in Eastern Montana gave an insight into his genius. I gave him a rather clumsy articulation of the narrative I was looking for in this outdoor shot in freezing temperatures near Ingomar, a tiny hamlet with a population of just 15. We were about as far removed from controlled studio conditions in Hollywood as you could conceive. I think I simply said that Cindy would be carrying a shotgun and with it a look of intent. Twenty minutes later Cindy bounced out of the car with an extravagant Raquel Welch 1960s big hair look that was spot on for what I had in mind.
After that my job was easy – to shoot as quickly as possible so that our lead would not get too cold. The trick is simply to have no doubt in one’s mind of the composition and believe firmly in the narrative embodied in the preconception. It’s a bit like a golf shot (not that I would know), you make up your mind and go for it. My storyline was that Cindy and her troop were the deliverers of frontier justice – whatever way that may come. I guess there is a slight nod to Tarantino in the vignette.
It worked and this was certainly a team effort.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 50” x 101”
- Framed: 65” x 116”
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 32” x 65”
- Framed: 47” x 80”
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.
Enough Is Enough
Montana, USA
Sometimes a simple narrative can work better than one with many different layers. There is nothing I would change in this photograph. It just works so well. Cindy, who was styled with reference to Julie Christie in Doctor Zhivago, looks sensational and the symmetry of the abandoned decaying building is almost too good to be true. Meanwhile, the snowfall is just right; heavy enough to be impactful, without it being a full on blizzard which would have impaired the aesthetic detail. There was enough light that cold morning in North East Montana to allow for a generous depth of field.
The cowboy, who looks like he is losing his glamorous wife for good, hails from Indiana and I have used him as an extra in the past. He wears his weathered Jeff Bridges look with comfort and his positioning against the window was well conceived. Storming out of the house is a marital storyline that many will be more familiar with than would readily care to admit. However, this rift, like the house, looks irreparable.
I love this image, as indeed does Cindy. I can see it adorning the walls of many a mountain lodge in the years to come. What a stroke of luck to dis – cover that building and we will keep its location secret. Even if someone finds it, I think they may well struggle to assemble the other component parts.
As with the first project in 2019, half of all profits of photograph sales from this assignment with Cindy will go to the University of Wiscon – sin’s Paediatric Cancer Care Unit in Madison. The first series raised over $600,000 and only a very few prints are now available at high prices.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56” x 83”
- Framed: 71” x 98”
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37” x 55”
- Framed: 52” x 70”
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 Unusual Suspects
Virginia City, Montana, 2019
Of course, we have worked in this room many times before and I know my light, my angles and the minimal depth of focus. We called last year’s photograph of the mountain men at the bar “The Usual Suspects” as that is exactly what they were. Some of those men rarely leave the warmth of The Pioneer Bar in Virginia City throughout winter – in fact they hibernate there. It proved such a popular image and has sold out across the world – in some cases raising huge sums for charity. So, when we went back this year, we thought it would be fun to have an additional crew member – Cindy Crawford.
The word juxtaposition is over used in narrative, but I think we can get away with it here. The old boys may drink a bit and smoke a bit of weed, but they were on their very best behaviour that day – which is essentially still medieval. An international icon joining their party was not something they bargained for and at least one cowboy convinced himself it was the weed. We had to call the image “The Unusual Suspects” as a nod to her presence.
The composition, which I could control, had to be spot on, but there is no way that I could control the wolf. It is a low percentage game this and we only came away with one shot – but we got it. Cindy looks fantastically glamorous and a little “bad ass” in her role, but, as always, it is the mountain men that take away the Oscars. Roxanna Redfoot did a grand job too.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 56” x 93" (142.24 cm x 236.22 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 67” x 104” (170.18 cm x 264.16 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 71” x 108” (180.34 cm x 274.32 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 37” x 61" (93.98 cm x 154.94 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 48” x 72” (121.92 cm x 182.88 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 52” x 76" (132.08 cm x 193.04 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.