The Thundering Herd
Texas, USA 2021
Looking back at my 38 years of holding a camera, there have been a few key moments along the way. Maradona in 1986 being my initial prompt. But it was probably way later in 2014 when I took the picture Mankind in a cattle camp near Yirol in South Sudan that my life changed. To borrow from Eddie Cantor “it took me 30 years to be an overnight success”. There have been many failures along the way.
I had recently considered returning to South Sudan to re-photograph that exact location, but a combination of COVID and an uptake in conflict in the country made that impractical. I also always have reservations on reshooting any previous set, it can hint at a lack of original thought.
Meanwhile, we had an idea. Our anthology to the “Wild West” – now in its six month of production – had allowed us to become familiar not just with the topography of much of the west, but with many cowboys and ranchers whom we now consider friends. The cowboy is integral to the enduring myth of the Wild West and no more so than in Texas, where the great cattle drives were first initiated. No state played a greater role in the trail drive era.
West Texas and South Sudan ostensibly don’t have much in common, but from a filming perspective there are some similarities. The land is flat and arid and in both locations the cattle are special. The horns of the cattle looked after by the Dinka in South Sudan, are magnificent, but the Texas Longhorn is no poor cousin.
With the help of two renowned Texan working cowboys – Craig Carter and Ryon Marshall – we spent last week filming near Valentine, not far from the Mexican border. I knew what I was looking for; a frame with depth; so as in South Sudan, I brought a ladder and a frame with contextuality and breadth; so, I knew that any lens with magnification would be a big error (it normally is anyway when a sense of place is integral to the creative vision).
I settled on a standard lens, but we had a problem, the dust being kicked up by the drives was intense. If the wind took the dust towards me, there was not just the inability to film, there was a danger of the thundering herd not seeing me. On one initial drive, they came out of the dust cloud just yards from my ladder. Not something I would recommend.
So, we worked out the formula, we would shoot against the light and with the herd directly downwind from me. As we rose at 4 am, we prayed the local weather forecast was accurate.
The cowboys, led by Ryon Marshall, were magnificent and after 72 hours we got the job done. The closing down party in the desert last Thursday night was something I will always remember. Great food, the most engaging company and, of course, country music. My team left with a warm glow and a real sense of connection with the cowboy culture down there. We can all learn something from it.
You gotta love Texas.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image size: 48" x 101" in (121.92 cm x 256.54 cm)
- Framed Image: 63" x 116" in (160.02 cm x 294.64 cm)
Standard: ALL EDITIONS ALLOCATED OR SOLD Please contact us for more information
- Image Size: 32” x 67” in (81.28 cm x 170.18 cm)
- Framed Image: 47” x 82” in (119.38 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.
Ain’t My First Rodeo
Texas, USA 2021
The mythical cowboy, whose image has been shaped by history, fiction and folklore, is unquestionably America’s predominant symbolic native son. For many people across the world, a cowboy is the most American thing they can think of. For that we should be thankful. Much better this noun than a Big Mac or even an Apple Mac.
Texas is the home of the cowboy and it is also the home of the longhorn. It was the birthplace of the great cattle drives north to the Kansas railroads in the 1870s and the names of the State’s leading sports teams leave us in no doubt as to the pride in the region’s heritage.
The cowboy and the longhorn remain part of today’s Texas and in West Texas we have built up a strong network of contacts who are now happy to allow us to drop into their daily lives. Filmmaking in my mind is a team sport – we are always reliant on the help and excellence of others. We have invested time in the communities of western Texas and we are now slowly reaping the rewards.
This was not an easy frame to take, as the big steer is turning towards my default flat position on the ground. There is quite an adrenaline rush at that level of proximity and this is not something to try on your own. I had seasoned cowboys on the ground right beside me.
I had no expectation of Ryon Marshall – my go to Texan cowboy – being in pin sharp focus. It was not necessary for the narrative to hold up. What mattered was that the steer was flying and that the face and eyes were pin sharp.
The composition is fortunate, as it does look as if Ryon is flying. Anything is possible with him, as it certainly isn’t his first rodeo.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 70" in (142.24 cm x 177.8 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 85" in (180.34 cm x 215.9 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37" x 46" in (93.98 cm x 116.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 48" x 57" in (121.92 cm x 144.78 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.
Drovers
This photograph was taken in 2021, but I sense it could have been taken in 1870. We are drawn to filming locations exuding a palpable sense of timelessness thus offering optionality on the narrative.
The more remote the location, the greater the possibility for us to remove the “now” and let our imagination jump into any era over the last six or seven generations. West Texas is my West World and that is why this bleak, mournful and unforgiving canvas has such a grip on me. It is part of America that time most certainly forgot. No wonder film makers have long been lured here.
Cowboys and cattle are not a new story; the partnership is one of the most enduring symbols of post-Civil War America and that is why they visually complement this landscape so effortlessly.
We knew what we wanted to do here, but working against the light with this amount of dust is a low percentage game. Dust can be a cameraman’s friend as it defies gravity, but there is a tipping point when it becomes his foe. On this frame, the lead drover is just out of the dust storm allowing for detail and the full benefit of the back light. The rest of this particular series was of no use at all. That is what we mean by a low percentage game.
I am in awe of the cowboys with whom we work in West Texas. They are the real deal and nothing is too much trouble for them. They have manners, work ethic and a sense of duty.
Texas is often mocked, but I think we can learn a great deal from cowboy culture.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image size: 30" x 67"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 41" x 78"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 45" x 82"
Large
- Image size: 44" x 101"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 55" x 112"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 59" x 116"
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 Last Supper in Texas
Texas, USA 2021
This was a challenging set, but great fun. We did all we could to be true to the concept. Indeed, after the shoot was wrapped at dusk, we enjoyed a contemporary Texan feast on site with barbequed steak, ample refreshment and live country music. The chosen location was a private ranch not many miles north of Big Bend National Park on the Mexican border.
In my mind this was always going to be a West Texas shoot. My intent was that every one of my frontier characters had to be strong and play their role with authority. I was less concerned with mirroring the exact positioning in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece than I was with the personal safety of the talent as the steer was a massive animal and we had no real option but to work around him and his comfort zone.
There was no picture without the Longhorn, but it was not easy to encourage him into the centre of the set during the ideal light – which was about an hour before sunset. Roxanna Redfoot from Dallas always plays her role to perfection, no matter the circumstances, and this shoot was another case in point. She cuts the perfect contrast to all around her. The cowboys didn’t need to dress up; they are what they are down on the Rio Grande.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image size: 31" x 67"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 42" x 78"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 46" x 82"
Large
- Image size: 46" x 100"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 57" x 111"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 61" x 115"
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.
Road Trip
Utah, USA 2018
I have always been drawn to the John Ford scenery of Northern Arizona and Utah, the highlight of which has to be Monument Valley. I am clearly not alone in considering the view south from turnoff 13 on the way to Mexican Hat to be one of the most visually intoxicating sights in the US. It was, of course, used in Forrest Gump and then provided the front cover to Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise. The US have taken ownership of the term “road trip” as explained succinctly by this stretch of tarmac. It’s truly an iconic and timeless vista that shouts “The Wild West”.
Gladiator is probably Ridley Scott finest movie and I have watched it over and over again. Meanwhile, Thelma and Louise is rightly one of the most lauded road trip movies of all time. About a month ago, I picked up the DVD box and had a moment of inspiration. Their use of the convertible car and the head on angle offered a totally different perspective on Monument Valley.
Taking my pre-conception through to reality last Wednesday morning was no small task. I want to thank Brawler Productions in LA for collaborating with me and helping secure exclusive use of the road at the key time, around 7.40 am. It’s a busy road and the Utah State Police were fantastic. @JosieCanseco played her role brilliantly – it was not easy to look that glamorous and in charge with a wolf sitting In Thelma’s seat. It is no surprise that Victoria’s Secret has booked her for its latest show in NYC.
We arrived on site two days before the shoot as we wanted to be in control of everything within our control. I can’t remember ever pondering more over camera settings and lenses. I knew I would have a generous amount of light to play with at 7.40 and we had to use it well. The big variable was the wolf’s behaviour – the light gets too harsh from about 8am and therefore there was only a small window to get the job wrapped. It was tight, but we did it. All in all, it was a great team effort in a fairly remote part of the American West.
We showed this picture for the first time in Dallas last night and the reaction was huge. It is a very special image and I think we nailed it. Thank you, Josie, you were fabulous.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 79" (143 x 201 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 90" (171 cm x 229 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 52" (94 x 133)
- Framed: 48" x 63" (122 x 160 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.
How the West Was Won
Nevada, 2019
The Harley-Davidson is a heavy- weight brand – like Coke and McDonalds, it was integral to the flourishing of the American Dream. The brand is emblematic of the post 1945 roll out of the US highway network that offered the American population the freedom to travel for travel’s sake. 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.”
My preconception was that if we were to use Harley-Davidsons for our “Road Trip” series in America, we needed a visual template that was “bad ass” from every perspective. We could not do this is in a half-hearted way – there was a responsibility to kill it.
All the bikers clearly had to be dudes and my preference was for the bikes themselves to be from the late 1930s through to the 1970s. I wanted choppers that aficionados would recognise and celebrate as I was determined that seasoned bikers could love the image as much as my followers. My hunch was that this might be the first and only time that these two demographics would meet. There was a required level of authenticity and attention to detail, but nothing insurmountable. My production team – Brawler – is first class at looking after that and indeed sourced the famous 1936 Knucklehead Chopper and a 1946 Harley Davidson sidecar.
The location was key. We had to find somewhere that complemented the bikes and romanticised the freedom of travel that the Harley-Davidson brand evokes. This instructed to- wards depth in the image, as the longer the road, the more emphatically it conveyed the sense of a journey. My intuition was also that this was a shot that needed to be in California, or at least in John Ford’s American West, as the topography and sense of place reinforces the brand.
The creative prompts were movies like Easy Rider – the classic 1969 Dennis Hopper lm starring Peter Fonda. America is the home of big scenery and we needed big scenery. Our internet trawling finally led us towards the Valley of Fire in Nevada – a remote park one hour’s drive north east of Las Vegas. It had depth and the moon like rock structures either side of the road continually drag the eye back to that road. If any vista could be described as “bad ass”, this was it.
And so it was that the crew assembled in the modest “Breaking Bad” village of Overton, Nevada last Tuesday night – the bikers from California, my usual five wolves from Montana and of course the delightful Bryana Holly – who agreed to come and work with us on this assignment. I think she might have been used to slightly nicer accommodation, but it was a joy to work with her.
Photography can o en be about maths as much as it is about inspiration and my deliberations on site the previous day were all about the need to compress distance, but also offer decent depth of field. The lens choice – my old reliable 85mm was key – nothing else in the camera boxes worked.
The result is a blowout image and I think everyone involved should give themselves a pat on the back (and that is a big number of people). I look forward to Harley-Davidson’s reaction. It really is a monster of a photograph – far better than I had hoped for. I looked at it in LA for at least an hour on Friday.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 cm x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 105" (171 cm x 267 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 50" (94 cm x 127 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 61" (122 cm x 155 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.
Friday Night at the Pioneer
Virginia City, Montana – 2020
“It’s not often that famous supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio ostensibly plays an extra with a wolf getting the lead role, but for this photograph to work, that is exactly what I asked her to do. Of course she is integral to the photograph and played her role of the saloon girl with her usual excellence. She is intelligent, fun and easy to direct.
This bar, high in the hills of Montana, is well known to me and the light; depth of field and angles are all familiar territory. I am in my comfort zone, but the wolf is not easy to get right. So many things are totally beyond my control. The wolf’s eyes are vital – they simply have to be sharp and that tests me and my camera to the full.
This image works and of course it is not dissimilar to The Wolf of Main Street which precipitated this series all those years ago. That photograph achieved a record price at Sotheby’s – a day I will always remember.”
-David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 87" (171 cm x 221 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 50" (94 x 127 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 61" (122 cm x 155 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 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.
Drive
Montana, USA
This photograph, taken high in the mountains of Montana, offers strong clues as to why Cara Delevingne is a global superstar. She has the eyes and the face to steal most scenes and the intelligence to play a prescribed role. There is nothing I would change in her look in this vignette. It is a perfect combination of purpose and rather unhinged menace. She can do this as easily as some people flick a switch.
Chief John Spotted Tail of the Lakota tribe was an excellent foil for Cara and they work well together. He is revered locally and it was an honour to have him on set. He brings a further edge to an image encapsulating my read on the old Wild West: a place of guns; trouble in hard drinking saloons; occasional bad weather and maverick characters. No wonder Westerns have a film genre to them selves – it is too rich a seam in the material to have to share a category with anything else. To go “West” was perhaps the greatest adventure story the world has ever known.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56” x 96”
- Framed: 71” x 111”
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37” x 64”
- Framed: 52” x 79”
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.
Blazing Saddles
Canyonlands, Utah, USA – 2021
This photograph was a spontaneous behind the scenes shot taken early one winter morning high up in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. The cowboys we had on set were simply keeping warm, not playing to the camera. When I looked at my camera files later, I realised that we had something very strong and our galleries were very keen for the work to be released and shown to the public in America and Europe. This was never our intent, and it is the first time this situation has arisen in ten years.
The grandeur of the American West is well known and well photographed. In our minds, stunning landscapes should complement the shot, not be the shot. Layered narratives have become core to my style, we like to make a frame sweat. This image is certainly a validation of that approach.
99% of my released work is printed in monochrome, but this print works better in colour. I looked back at some of the other work we have released in colour and they all have one thing in common; my shots with tigers, orangutans and now this image all have the colour orange in them. Orange is not a normal colour in my work, but when it features, a colour print is often preferable. A black and white print simply doesn’t cope well with orange.
On this occasion, the orange flames from the fire are such a core component of the story that to print this in monochrome would dumb down the narrative. I am all for the reductive qualities of monochrome, but we always want to tell the best possible story.
There is a lot going on in this image and we know it emotionally connects with those in Americadrawn to the lore of the West.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image size: 37" x 58"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 48" x 69"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 52" x 73"
Large
- Image size: 56" x 88"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 67" x 99"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 71" x 103”
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.