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.
Empire of the Summer Moon
New York, USA 2020
“For those looking for a good book to read in these times when good books have assumed a bigger role in our daily lives, I strongly recommend Empire of the Summer Moon, The New York Times’ bestseller about the war between the Comanche and the white settlers for control of the American West. The book was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize – so I am not saying anything groundbreaking in my recommendation.
The Comanche was the most powerful tribe in American History. They adapted to the horse earlier and more completely than any other plains’ tribe and they were without doubt the prototype horse tribe in North America. The white man’s 40-year war with the Comanche in the mid 19th century was the tribe’s final chapter in its 250-year crusade to fight off settlers. But their legacy lives on and the lethal inland empire dominated by the tribe is an integral part of American history.
My idea for this part of the series was to work with a Comanche descendant from their homeland in Texas and New Mexico and place him or her against today’s Manhattan Skyline. A horse was not going to work in this storyline, as we thought the Hudson River would offer the best platform on which to play a layered narrative.
With the help of a friend in Colorado, we found the right Comanche for the job in Santa Fe and he was excited to collaborate on the project. He helped source the canoe and brought his warrior clothes. Again, we would stress that their pride in their heritage manifests itself in fully embracing projects that give their tribe exposure. We were looking to create art as opposed to saying anything profound. By photographing an ancestor of America’s most powerful tribe in front of modern America’s most powerful city – the lost world meeting the new world – we are simply celebrating the breadth of American history.
Joaquin Gonzalez did the Comanche proud. He managed the canoe on those waters magnificently and he looked every inch the warrior that we asked him to be.”- David Yarrow
EMPIRE showcases the span of American history, particularly through its evolution. New York City is a product of capability, development, and cultural diversity over a span of several decades, and the juxtaposition of this city against a descendant of a great and powerful Native American tribe demonstrates that there is more than one manifestation of American “greatness”. Humanity suggests that there is no overarching way to measure human beings and our accomplishments, and that in and of itself is greatness at work.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 87” in (142.24 cm x 220.98 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 102” in (180.34 cm x 259.08 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 58” in (93.98 cm x 147.32 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 73” in (132.08 cm x 185.42 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.
Chief
Wyoming, USA 2020
“There is wide recognition now that Christopher Columbus did not discover America in 1492 and the events in Minneapolis have accelerated the debate on the possibility of institutionalised racism in the teaching of American history. This is not a discussion we want to fully engage in – as we are ill equipped to add value, but I do want to celebrate some of the tribal elders I have had the fortune to encounter in the last month. Their pride, manners, grace and humility have been humbling. We have made new friends in the North.
For this project we worked with Chief John Spotted Tail, the great-great-grandson of the fabled Lakota chief Spotted Tail. We spent two days with him in Northern Wyoming and he was so excited to wear the headpiece that only the most senior Native American chiefs like him can wear. His attire was emphatically his decision not ours. Their heritage is integral to their souls.” -David Yarrow
David Yarrow is dedicated to capturing nature in its most raw and fragile forms, bending time by immersing the viewer directly into the moment that he has photographed. With CHIEF, there is a bit of an exception, as the omnipotence and majesty of the landscape are equally mirrored in both Chief John Spotted Tail and his horse. CHIEF lends itself to Humanity through its integration of humanity and nature, recollecting the symbiotic relationship that we have with our planet. Without one’s prosperity, the other simply cannot exist.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12
- 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
- Image Size: 37” x 54” in (93.98 cm x 137.16 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 69” in (132.08 cm x 175.26 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.
We Are Family
Archival Pigment Print
Available Sizes (Framed Size)
Large - Edition of 12
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- Image size: 56” x 92”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 67” x 103”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 71” x 107”
Standard - Edition of 12
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- Image size: 37” x 61”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 48” x 72”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 52” x 76”
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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.
Walk The Line II
Available Sizes
Large - Edition of 12
- Image size: 56” x 103”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 67” x 114”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 71” x 118”
Standard - Edition of 12
- Image size: 37” x 68”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 48” x 79”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 52” x 83”
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.
Twins
This simple image, taken 10 days ago in Kenya, is emblematic of the good news on conservation in specific areas of East Africa and we must embrace good news, even if it sits uncomfortably with populist headline narrative. The elephant population in Amboseli is thriving. In the last 12 months, over 130 elephants have been born.
Some iconic senior citizens of the ecosystem – notably Tim – have sadly passed away from old age, but none have been lost to poaching in 2020. Indeed, none have been lost to poaching in over six years. Consequentially, the elephant community here is as large as it has been for many years. Huge credit must be given to the KWS and NGOs such as Big Life and Tusk.
Amboseli is a paragon of conservation models and what has happened here can happen elsewhere. Seasoned rangers who have seen it all, can be forgiven for being somewhat indifferent to animal encounters, but when we found this mother with her twins born during Covid 19, they ordered me to stop and document it. I felt their pride.
There are good news stories out there.
Available Sizes
Large - Edition of 12
- Image size: 56” x 63”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 67” x 74”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 71” x 78”
Standard - Edition of 12
- Image size: 37” x 41”
- Framed with a 3" mat: 48” x 52”
- Framed with a 5" mat: 52” x 56”
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.
Tsavo East
Tsavo, Kenya 2017
This magnificent old elephant is not only one of the planet’s few remaining big tuskers, her tusks are actually symmetrical and touch at the tips – to my knowledge this is unique. The Tsavo Tusk Rangers found her taking shade from the midday sun in the heart of Tsavo East – a long drive for sure, but so long as she remained reachable, it was worth making the journey. We were a long way from base camp – maybe a four hour drive.
The difficulty was to determine how to work the camera at ground level – remotes were not an option as there was no pattern to her movement and a prerequisite for remotes is predictable movement from the subject.
The next best option was to work from underneath the jeep – a potentially dangerous approach but Richard Moller knew this elephant has never charged and toppled a vehicle before and whilst there is always a first, I trusted Richard. That’s a golden rule of mine in the field – trust those that you partner with on the ground, otherwise why partner with them?
Nikon’s newest camera – the D850 and newest medium telephoto lens, the 105mm were my combination that day and the textural detail in this elephant showcases the benefit of this combination. I think everyone played a part in this picture – Richard, the jeep, the camera, the cameraman and most of all the elephant. In fact, I don’t think I would get on the medal podium.
This is a high impact portrait of a wonderful elephant in her last years. I will never see her again.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- Image: 56" x 56" (143 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 67" (171 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD
- Image: 37" x 37" (94 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 48" (122 x 122 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.
Tim
Amboseli, Kenya 2019
Tim – the world’s most famous and largest elephant – is an icon of our times. Like any icon, whether they be a politician, sports star or lm star, there is pressure on the photographer to do justice to the subject in a portrait. Often these encounters fall down as the cameraman simply stands on the shoulders of the icon and does not impose himself on the situation. With Tim, I cannot have him passive – he must be ears flapping, dust flying and coming towards me. at is easier said than done, but if we put in the hours with the right local team, it is possible.
I think that this portrait of Tim does justice to his magnificence.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE
- Image: 56" x 78" (143 cm x 199 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 89" (171 cm x 226 cm)
STANDARD
- Image: 37" x 51" (94 cm x 130 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 62" (122 cm x 158 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.