Rajasthan
Ranthambore National Park, India 2019
I have a few time honoured rules when photographing in the wild – stay low, get close and work against the light. Following this shoot in India, I added another – “always stay calm”.
We had seen two tigers at breakfast time when the park is accessible to all. It was a decent moment, but nothing sensational. At 9.30am the visitors must leave and then we and a handful of jeeps had until 3.30 pm on our own in the 1600 km² of Ranthambhore. These are precious hours as tiger behaviour becomes more predictable as the temperature rises. Given the acreage of the vast park there is every chance of working alone.
Much of the hottest part of the day (around 44°c) was spent looking for an adult male tiger who my guide for six years – Vipul Jain – knew to have been in the area in the last few hours. Back and forth we went in rotation to the tiger’s favourite three watering holes, but there was nothing. Our cold-water supplies were low and our energy even lower.
Just as I was ready to throw in the towel at 2.40 pm and submit to the comfort of air conditioning and a cold shower, Vipul saw something with his discerning eyes and our driver sped towards a small cave in the escarpment. There, at the front of the cave, but out of the heat, sat the tiger in the best lit spot I can ever remember with any animal.
When we arrived, I remember saying to everyone “stay calm”. It was time to take a deep breath and think. The tiger was going nowhere as long as we kept our cool and went to work. If the tiger moved either a metre backwards or forwards the light was gone.
I think we just about stayed calm and therefore so did the tiger. You work for moments like these.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
SOLD OUT
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Mystic River
This is such a powerful image – an unmistakable sense of intent pervades across every aspect of the photograph. The tiger’s eyes are focused, the body structure eager and the water movement suggests movement, speed and aggression.
Available size
- Large: 67 x 84 inches
- Standard: 48 x 59 inches
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.
Follow The Leader
Tanzania, 2020
The annual migration in East Africa is a challenge to photograph in a manner that does justice to its enormity. One single photograph is unlikely to have an expansive enough narrative and often film footage is a more effective medium. Strong artists such as Nick Brandt have taken some evocative stills, but much of the work I see, including my own, has left me unmoved.
The river crossings in normal years attract huge numbers of jeeps laden with cameras and a rather undignified dash for pole position accompanies the start of each crossing. I have not enjoyed these experiences over the years as I find it something of a chaotic scrum. The quiet serenity of the Serengeti is interrupted by the noise of 500 camera motor drives each being operated with the finger pressed firmly down on the shutter release. It’s akin to the paparazzi greeting a celebrity exiting a night club.
But it’s all rather different in 2020 as traffic numbers are down 90% and there is room to be on your own and avoid others. Last week my guide gambled on a likely crossing point and at first light, we crawled down the bank to the river’s edge with a view to shooting at 90 degrees to the crossing, not the 180 so often chosen. I knew it could be a long wait and I even took a book with me to kill time. That was a little naive given crocs and hippos hang out in the same area – this was clearly no library. I never turned a page.
But after a couple of hours, I had my moment. There is even a semblance of order to what is normally the most chaotic scene imaginable and the olympic leap from the lead wildebeest certainly made the assignment successful. Not perhaps before time.
Available Sizes (Framed Size)
- Large: 71” x 117”
- Standard: 52” x 82”
Available Editions
- Large: Edition of 12
- Standard: Edition of 1
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 Puzzle
Lewa, Kenya 2013
Zebras are not photographers’ friends. They couple a rather clumsy running style with skittish nerves and herd instincts. In some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa it is very difficult to get close and after a while, there are few photographers that have the will-power to bother. The Grevy’s Zebra of East Africa offers the best chance of proximity and also – by good fortune – the best facial aesthetics. I knew what I was looking for with this animal – it was all about the lines and the patterns within a small group and then hoping the light would help. I knew as soon as I pressed the shutter that I had finally got the image.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20
- Image: 56" x 66"
- Framed: 71" x 81"
STANDARD - Edition of 20
- Image: 37" x 43"
- Framed: 52" x 59"
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 Factory
Archival Inkjet Print
Available Sizes
- Large: 67 x 86 inches (Edition of 12)
- Standard: 48 x 61 inches (Edition of 12)
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.
Parallel Lines
Archival Inkjet Print
Available Sizes
- Large: 38 x 114 inches (Edition of 12)
- Standard: Sold Out
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 Focused Wolf
Montana, USA 2015
Jim Brandenburg’s iconic shot of half a wolf’s head peering out from behind a tree, arguably marked the moment that wildlife photography became art. All those that ply Jim’s trade have much to thank him for – after all that single image – which can never be repeated – elevated the business of taking top tier wildlife imagery to an art form that was collectable.
I often ask myself to articulate what was so special about his photograph. I tend to home in on the simplicity of the image as well as its menace and the rule breaking incompleteness. It nails the character of the animal and the behavior that defines it.
Wolves may indeed have menace , but they are also unquestionably beautiful. I can’t compete with the Brandenburg shot and nor when I went to Montana, did I want to even try. There is no mileage on borrowing ideas, but I recognised the power of simplicity.
There are two aspects of my picture that make it quite special. Firstly, the limited depth of field brings every human eye to the wolves eyes – this was mathematically necessary as the low early morning light required opening up the lens aperture, but it was also the way to play the idea. A nice coincidence.
The other aspect to me is that the wolf is such a smart and focused animal and therefore I wanted to be sure that he was portrayed with crystal clear focus too. There is no room for lack of sharpness – that would not do this alpha animal justice.
It was very cold , but I guess that is conveyed.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Available Sizes (Framed Size)
- Large: 71" x 95" (180 cm x 241 cm)
- Standard: 52" x 68" (132 cm x 173 cm)
Available Editions
- Large: Edition of 12
- Standard: Edition of 12
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.
I Am Pure Alpha
Gary, Indiana 2017
This is my classic style. The camera is below the wolf’s eyes, the background is clean and without tension points and the wolf’s eyes are pin sharp. The beauty is in the uncluttered simplicity of the image. The limited depth of field allows the subject to pop and give the viewer no cause to be distracted. Less can be more when the objective is portraiture rather than storytelling or decisive moment photography.
Intuitively a portrait of a beautiful wolf should follow the same principles of glamour photography because the wolf is such a glamorous animal and that attribute must be emphasized above all others.
The clarity of this image – given the limited available light – would not have been possible a few years ago. I think it offers an insight into the animal’s soul.
He is simply being an alpha wolf. On point, intelligent and poised.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 cm x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 87" (171 cm x 221 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 50" (94 cm x 127 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 61" (122 cm x 165 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.
Encroachment
Nevada City, Montana – 2017
I probably owe a great deal to the photographer Jim Brandenburg. I have never had the privilege of meeting him, but his iconic picture of half a wolf’s head jutting out from behind a tree is widely ascribed as a key moment in the history of wildlife photography. This was the day when transcending wildlife photography started to be regarded as art.
I am a fine art photographer, not a wildlife photographer, and so I sit somewhere in the middle of this debate. I don’t use long lenses unless I absolutely have to – polar bears and tigers being two cases in which they are helpful. Telephoto lenses compress the image and with it the chance of capturing something deeply evocative.
I do find many wildlife photographs very dull. It is not enough to see an animal and then photograph it – that is akin to google mapping and it is not art. Many wildlife photographers fall into the trap of believing that documentation is enough and it is not.
This image is deliberately reductive and there is no lofty ambition. But therein lies its strength. It is a paradox that white is such a strong colour and it is probably at its best in abstract imagery with no depth of focus. There was about an inch of focus here and it was well used.
Available Sizes (Framed Size)
- Large: 71” x 78” (180 cm x 198 cm)
- Standard: 52” x 57” (132 cm x 145 cm)
Available Editions
- Large: Edition of 12
- Standard: Edition of 12
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.