Roy's
Amboy, California – 2023
“This photograph of Cindy Crawford, walking on Route 66 in front of a landmark 1950s motel, smells of Americana and that, of course, was my intent. We were not able to close the road down and had to wing it slightly at the end of the day, but “stolen” images are often the best.
There are many constituent parts to this image and I am, as usual, reminded again, just how good our respective teams are when working under pressure. Not only is it 100 degrees outside; we are on a main road deep in the Californian desert and there are tourists swarming the area around Roy’s not quite believing their luck at seeing Cindy and yet we managed to pull this off. Just a fraction of a second, but that is all it takes.
It was a 20-hour day that day, but one of the best we have had together and a huge amount of the credit
goes to our production teams. It’s the small things like Cindy’s hair that make such a difference to this photograph and the forecourt of Roy’s is no studio, it’s a working gas station. I raise my glass to Cindy’s hair stylist – the legend that is Peter Savic. I know working in an arid and sometimes windy desert is not his preferred environment, but he is a total professional.
The perspective offered by a standard lens is pleasing to the human eye as that is what we are used to day in day out; the camera lens sees what we see. But there are challenges in this frame as I needed to include both her feet and the Roy’s sign and yet I could not afford for her face to be too far from the camera. Only a few angles were going to work and then we also had the props behind.
But she knows exactly what she is doing and how to help me with my job. That’s why she is who she is.”
Available sizes
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 57” x 56" in (144.8 cm x 142.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 72” x 71" in (182.9 cm x 180.3 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 38” x 37" in (96.52 cm x 93.98 cm)
- Framed Image: 53” x 52" in (134.6 cm x 132.1 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.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Amboy, California – 2023
“I think visiting a potential film location for the first time is akin to a first date or a first experience at an acclaimed restaurant. It is all so unfamiliar and there is no guide as to where to start. The sensory overload can be intimidating and it takes time to distill and be oneself. Most second dates are better than the first and those who like a restaurant on their first visit will tend to enjoy it even more on the second and so it goes on. If this wasn’t the case, the brain is not the organ we give it credit for being. We are all incremental learners and we enjoy and leverage familiarity.
The first time I visited this railway track in the hot Californian desert, I knew it had visual potential, especially if I shot late in the afternoon and directly against the light, but I needed a month or so to let the cocktail of what I could do marinate in my own mind.
My predilection is to avoid the static or the mundane and planes, trains and cars in a still can look frozen. A plane defies gravity so that helps in a single image, but I knew the car and the train could not join it. I don’t envy Formula 1 photographers; it’s such a difficult sport to take stills of. My visual leaning was to have a sense of movement elsewhere and that’s where the idea of dust being kicked up from railway workers offered a solution. The light would be my partner.
Once the premise is there, it is about scalpel sharp precision in the detail. Let’s not have any car – let’s have a vintage 1953 Ferrari and let’s not have any girl holding the image together, let’s have Cindy Crawford – perhaps America’s most loved and celebrated model.
The styling in this shot was excellent and I thank Nicole Allowitz for being so good at her craft. This photograph is as much a testament to her as it is to me. The railway workers are so on point, as, of course, is Cindy. She is a given.
It is possible that some of my work over the last 10 years – particularly with wildlife – has been imitated and filmmakers have every right to do so. I celebrate a good picture like everyone else and there are some very able cameramen out there. But I don’t think this photograph is going to be imitated in a hurry and this gives me a little smile.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Framed: 56” x 69” in (142.2 cm x 175.3 cm)
- Framed: 71” x 84” in (180.3 cm x 213.4 cm)
LARGE - Edition of 20 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 56” x 68” in (142.2 cm x 172.7 cm)
- Framed Size: 71” x 83" in (180.3 cm x 210.8 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 37” x 45” in (93.98 cm x 114.3 cm)
- Framed Size: 52” x 60" in (132.1 cm x 152.4 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.
South By Southwest (2023)
South By Southwest
Amboy, California – 2023
“Hitchcock’s acclaimed 1959 espionage thriller – North by Northwest – has long being a prompt for me; especially the sequence in which the fleeing Cary Grant is chased down by the crop spraying plane. It was cinema ahead of its time and I admit to watching that sequence more times than would be considered normal.
During COVID, we played on this storyline near my home in Devon, but in 2023 I drew up a more ambitious story that would be played out in the isolated desert community of Amboy, California. We had scouted the area intensely and knew our angles, our light and most of all the landowners.
The premise was to style the set as if we were indeed in the late 1950s and we recognised that we had a strong backdrop, as Roy’s Cafe is one of the treasure trove authentic landmarks of Route 66. From Roy’s looking east, the Mother Road stretches straight to the horizon in a way that plays to our preconceptions of Americana road trips. We then brought in a 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spyder as the lead car and dressed the background with a Ford pick-up from the late 1940s.
But this was mere window dressing and my sense was that in order to transcend, this story required some heavyweight components. Flatteringly, Cindy Crawford agreed to be the main protagonist and I knew she would give Cary Grant a run for his money. Cindy is the best of the best and it is always a huge honour to work with her. Ascribe her a role and a look and she will nail it every time.
But we also needed a plane. Amboy has a tiny runway strip and towards the end of the day, when the traffic
is lighter, a good pilot can flirt with the tarmac of Route 66. I needed a pilot whom I could trust and I found him in Greg Caldwell, who slightly reminded me of the heroic crop spraying pilot from the movie Independence Day. We had worked with him before and there didn’t seem much to trouble Greg – not even his plane’s aerial proximity to a $10m Ferrari or, more importantly, one of the world’s most identifiable and revered women.
There is a film noir feel to the image and I think the relatively flat light helps the rather menacing mood. But the credit lies with both Greg and Cindy who did exactly what I asked them to do .
I guess we may have broken some new ground here as well as a few rules. The BTS video of this shot is worth seeing, it’s one of our better ones.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Framed: 56” x 69” in (142.2 cm x 175.3 cm)
- Framed: 71” x 84” in (180.3 cm x 213.4 cm)
LARGE - Edition of 20 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 56” x 81” in (142.2 cm x 205.7 cm)
- Framed Size: 71” x 96" in (180.3 cm x 243.8 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 37” x 54” in (93.98 cm x 137.1 cm)
- Framed Size: 52” x 69" in (132.1 cm x 175.3 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.
Village People
Manhattan, New York – 2023
Half of the proceeds will go to John McEnroe’s philanthropic endeavors.
“McSorley’s Old Ale House in the East Village is one of the most celebrated Irish bars on the Eastern Seaboard of America. Founded in 1854, it seemingly hasn’t changed much in 170 years and if the walls could talk, it would – “to be sure” – be one very long monologue.
The interior is a museum of the Irish in Manhattan and the joint has such a discernible vibe that Martin Scorsese and his crew did their press briefings for The Gangs of New York in the front bar. In the Great War, young soldiers heading to Europe in 1917, left a turkey wish bone on a wire above the bar; the bones of those who never returned still hang there in front of various JFK memorabilia.
The pub has been in the same Irish family hands for three generations and I was honoured to discover that the current custodian – Gregory – was a collector of my work. Naively, we tried to visit him on St Patrick’s Day, but couldn’t get within 200 yards of the pub. The next day, we had more luck and I was charmed not just by Gregory, but by the whole vibe of the joint. It is a truly special place and I knew I had to film there.
I didn’t have long to wait for the opportunity as John McEnroe – one of the most loved and talented of all American sporting legends and a truly uncompromising New Yorker – had agreed to be filmed by me in the city. Although the McEnroes are of Irish origin and therefore McSorley’s seemed like an appropriate destination, the reason that the location made sense went far deeper than that; John personifies the gritty, uncompromising New Yorker who fights for what he believes to be right – he always has. My leaning was the sawdust laden floors of McSorley’s offered a far more appropriate platform to film this blunt, quintessential, street fighter than some smart Upper East side Italian restaurant or cocktail bar. We were going Irish and tough.
McEnroe’s most famous rebuke to an umpire was the “you cannot be serious” line and I thought those words somewhere in McSorley’s – no matter how incongruous they would be to the rest of the décor – would complement John well. I asked him to bring his Gibson guitar and not a tennis racket, as music now defines him as much tennis and besides, we did give a nod to his rival Bjorn Borg in the photograph.
We were on a creative roll now and I sensed we could add further to the visual overload. The band Village People seemed like a good additive, after-all, we were in the Village and they were of the McEnroe Borg era. Then, since we were playing to a sense of community, I thought we may as well throw in a lady of the night. Luckily Vivian from Pretty Woman was on hand to help.
It is a bar full of Village People, which is what McSorley’s presumably was in 1854. McEnroe looks pure Rock and Roll bad ass. To anyone that says, I would not want to be in that bar, I would simply reply “You cannot be serious.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 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 20 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 59” in (93.98 cm x 149.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 74” in (132.1 cm x 188 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.
California Dreaming
Amboy, California – 2023
“In the 1950s, many Americans sought new lives in California. Whether they were entire families, aspiring actors or creatives, army veterans or immigrants, the push west was a crowded trade. The two enablers of this increased geographical mobility were the motor car and the US road network, championed by Route 66.
I wanted to tell a story of single- minded ambition along Route 66 and my instincts were that a night shot could make sense because we would then incorporate some motel neon lights to give an emphatic time stamp to this liberating period in American history. Light is integral to all that we do and we shy away from boring lighting.
Roy’s Motel and Cafe in Amboy, California is as authentic a Route 66 landmark as any and the neon lights still work. We brought in a magnificent 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spyder as the treasure trove prop. Its roofless design would help me tell a more complete story as the driver needed to be seen. Meanwhile, the stunning car interior would hint at a traveller of note and substance. I think this Ferrari is now worth around $10m.
Our model that evening, in the remote Californian desert, was Daniela Braga, who is both beautiful and theatrical. We styled her to the era and I just told her to look free, dreaming of her new life in California as she drove. Afterall, at this point, she was only four hours from Los Angeles.
I have a feeling that when she arrived in LA 70 years ago, the City of Angels would have greeted her enthusiastically. Her and the 1953 Ferrari seem a very natural match up.”
Available sizes
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image size: 61” x 56" in (154.9 cm x 142.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 76” x 71" in (193 cm x 180.3 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image size: 40” x 37" in (101.6 cm x 93.98 cm)
- Framed Image: 55” x 52" in (139.7 cm x 132.1 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 Longhorn Saloon
West Texas – 2023
Archival Pigment Print
“From the outside, The Longhorn Saloon looks like a bar where the most ancient of vices are catered for daily. It has the whiff of a place where cowboys are tough, women are tougher and there is little rule of law. It is the Wild West at its cartoonish best. The Coen Brothers should check it out.
The Longhorn is clearly a Texas bar and we would say that it’s in West Texas, but more than that, we are sworn to secrecy. It’s too good a place to get crowded and besides, the cattle clearly need some room to roam.
Projects like these tend to be fun for everyone involved and when we do film at dusk, there is never a doubt that after the wrap, some local cast or crew will invite us home for a Texan Barbecue. They score very high in hospitality in Texas and we love our nights out near the Mexican Border. The night of this photograph, three generations of one family sat around the home fire and laughed and chatted with each other. There was no mobile phone in sight. I ate the best steak of my life, but more importantly, I was reminded what Texas is all about.
The Longhorn Saloon is currently closed for renovation.”
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 98” in (142.2 cm x 248.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 113” in (180.3 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.
Ferrari (B&W)
Amboy, California – 2023
Archival Pigment Print
“In the 1950s, the Californian Dream made Route 66 the most famous road in the world. “The Mother Road”, as John Steinbeck described it in The Grapes of Wrath, became the route of flight for the American Middle Class; a trend accelerated by the rapidly evolving Californian economy and the opening of Disneyland in 1955.
The stretch of road heading east near Amboy in the baking Californian desert showcases the Route 66 journey as it once was. The sense of scale offers the filmmaker a valuable tool kit and I have been drawn to this outpost for many years. It is a commitment of time to get there, but one that many road trippers make because of the iconic Roy’s Motel and Cafe which serves as the one identifiable landmark in a barren desert.
Amboy is a known known and I worried how I could break new ground because like all spectacular vistas in the US, it has been well photographed. The challenge is not in getting there, but in transcending when one does.
I called upon a Hong Kong friend who is a passionate investor in vintage cars and owns one of the most lauded and valuable collections in the world. I explained the shoot concept and he graciously offered up one his most coveted treasures – the 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spider. It was one of only 12 built in the world and when one comes up at auction, they sell for more than a London townhouse. His team was kind enough to transport this fabled Ferrari 1,000 miles across the country, but at least when they arrived, they understood the opportunity. It was going to be a trip well made.
The design of the Ferrari was perfect as its low windscreen allowed my lens direct access into the faces of the girl (the wonderful Daniela Braga) and the wolf. They could then hold centre stage and let all the other constituent parts play off each other.
The goal of this shoot was to play on the metaphor that is Route 66. It encapsulates the American Dream, as it was the road of freedom and ambition. Go West, work hard, stay focused and enjoy the very best of lives.
We styled to the mid 1950s and I told Daniela to exude a sense of positivity. She should look, as Nat King Cole suggested, that she was “Getting her Kicks on Route 66”.
Hard not to in that Ferrari.”
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 59” in (142.2 cm x 149.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 74” in (180.3 cm x 188 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 39” in (93.98 cm x 99.06 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 54” in (132.1 cm x 137.2 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.
Marshlands
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2023
Archival Pigment Print
“I think this is one of my most powerful lion photographs over the last 10 years and a tribute to the skills of Kevin Richardson – The Lion Whisperer – whose ability to work with these magnificent cats is without equal.
The previous night, the thunderstorms around Dinokeng, South Africa, were so violent and relentless that sleeping was impossible. My restlessness was compounded by my excitement about the amount of flood water that would be building in Kevin’s famous sanctuary. We often talk about bad weather being an opportunity not a threat and the torrential rain in the region offered a chance for us to practice what we preach.
I knew that it was going to be dirty work as, at my behest, Kevin’s heavy cage would be positioned in the new marshland at first light. These lions are wild, and the only way to gain proximity is to use remotes or work from a very heavy cage. Remotes were a non-runner with the water levels, so it was time for me to get very wet and suck it up.
The end result made it all worthwhile. I can’t really get more out of an adult male lion than this and what a majestic animal he is.”
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 73” in (142.2 cm x 185.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 88” in (180.3 cm x 223.5 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 48” in (93.98 cm x 121.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 63” in (132.1 cm x 160 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.
Elmo
2023
“I have photographed Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda with varying success over the last ten years – I think our hit rate is around 20% – meaning only one out of every five treks up Volcanoes National Park has yielded anything. I think that’s about right – it’s not easy at 10,000 feet in the rainforest, and the best of my work now hangs in the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Fund in Kinigi, Rwanda. I am glad they don’t display my average pictures, of which there are many.
I recently had the chance to work on a fundraiser with another great American conservationist – Ramona Bass – a legendary figure in Fort Worth – who has offered a sanctuary for displaced Western Lowland Gorillas for many years. The male adult Lowland gorillas have less hair than mountain gorillas and, as a result, look more human. The most famous of these under Ramona’s care is a 33-year-old silverback called Elmo, who can be photographed from a distance at certain times of the day.
He is a handsome boy that carries a look of authority. I wanted a head-on stare, and if the light could catch the eyes, then so much the better.”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Medium: Archival Pigment Print
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 84” in (142.24 cm x 213.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 99” in (180.34 cm x 251.5 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 56” in (93.98 cm x 142.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 71” (132.08 cm x 180.3 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 Senator
2023
This is such a simple portrait of Elmo – a Western lowland Silverback gorilla. The photograph makes no claim to be anything else than a facial study. The flat lighting helps elevate the textural detail, and its simplicity is its strength. With less facial hair – especially on the forehead than a mountain gorilla and narrower bone structures- they look more like humans than their cousins from higher altitudes. They are very firmly on the anthropologist’s road map.
The photograph could be a painting by a Dutch master, and the gorilla himself reminds me of some people I know – mostly people in authority. There is a calm wisdom, a steely fortitude and a whiff of sovereignty. He is a Senator – a man representing his people.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Medium: Archival Pigment Print
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 84” in (142.24 cm x 213.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 99” in (180.34 cm x 251.5 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 56” in (93.98 cm x 142.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 71” (132.08 cm x 180.3 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.